Comprehension Exercises for

Introduction to the USA (BBNAN-00400) course

Workbook

English Studies Department, PPKE BTK

Comprehension exercises to: Race and ethnicity....................................................................3

Comprehension exercises to: Government and politics..........................................................7
Comprehension exercises to: Legal system............................................................................9
Comprehension exercises to: Values.....................................................................................11
Comprehension exercises to: Society and Urban life...........................................................12
Comprehension exercises to: Education...............................................................................13
Comprehension exercises to: Religion..................................................................................16
How to practice doing Comprehension Exercises

1. Give yourself enough time to complete an exercise! Each exercise requires at least 20
minutes to be done properly (reading the text carefully, considering the questions,
composing the answers).
2. Don’t use a dictionary except if it is absolutely necessary! Part of the exercise is that
you should be able to work out the meaning of unknown words and phrases from the
context. At the exam, you won’t be allowed to use a dictionary anyway, so it’s better to
prepare for the situation. (You can of course clear up language problems after you
have completed the exercise, but don’t do it during the exercise).
3. Never quote extended phrases, clauses or sentences from the text in your answer!
Such are unacceptable, even if correct, because they do not show whether you’ve
understood the text properly. Always answer in your own words.
4. Look at how many points each question is worth: for more points you need to give
longer, more detailed answers, while a 1 or 2-point question can be fully answered in a
sentence or two (and too long answers will not earn extra points). If the questions asks
for pieces of information, make sure to give the required number to achieve maximum
points.
5. Answer the questions on the basis of the information in the text! Provide
background information from outside the text only if you are specifically asked to
do so or if it is necessary for your explanation.
6. Write intelligibly; answers that cannot be deciphered are unacceptable.
Comprehension exercises to: Race and ethnicity

A. Cult of Ethnicity

The US escaped the divisiveness of a multiethnic society by a brilliant solution: the

creation of a brand-new national identity. The point of America was not to preserve old
cultures but to forge a new, American culture. This was the ideal that a century later Israel
Zangwill crystallized in the title of his popular 1908 play The Melting Pot.
The new American identity was inescapably English in language, ideas and
institutions. The pot did not melt everybody, not even all the white immigrants; deeply bred
racism put black Americans, yellow Americans, red Americans and brown Americans well
outside the pale.
In the 20th century, new immigration laws altered the composition of the American
people, and a cult of ethnicity erupted both among non-Anglo whites and among nonwhite
minorities. This had many healthy consequences. The American culture at last began to give
shamefully overdue recognition to the achievements of groups subordinated and spurned
during the high noon of Anglo dominance, and it began to acknowledge the great swirling
world beyond Europe. Americans acquired a more complex and invigorating sense of their
world – and of themselves.
But, pressed too far, the cult of ethnicity has unhealthy consequences. It gives rise, for
example, to the conception of the U.S. as a nation not of individuals making their own choices
but of inviolable ethnic and racial groups. It rejects the historic American goals of assimilation
and integration. And, in an excess of zeal, well-intentioned people seek to transform our
system of education from a means of creating „one people” into a means of promoting,
celebrating and perpetuating separate ethnic origins and identities.

1. On the basis of paragraph one, what is the meaning of the metaphorical expression
„melting pot”? (2)
2. Give one specific example of the „non-Anglo whites” and „nonwhite minorities”
mentioned in paragraph 3! Why were these groups left out of the „melting pot”? (3)
3. Give one specific example to the following facts only superficially mentioned in the
text:
a. new immigration laws,
b. the composition of the American people changed, and
c. the American culture gives recognition to once subordinated groups. [You
should draw on your textbook knowledge here!] (6)
4. Could you list and explain two positive consequences of the cult of ethnicity in the
20th century, according to the author? (4)
5. Could you list and explain two negative consequences of the cult of ethnicity,
according to the author? (4)
6. According to the article, what institution should be the primary place of assimilation
and integration? (2)
 B. Cubans

The Cubans of Miami are America’s most successful post-war immigrants. Though
they represent only a third of Miami’s population, they dominate the politics and economy of
southern Florida. Their mean household income, according to Strategy Research, a Miami-
based group, is $50,250, nearly $700 more than the national Latino average. The Cubans who
fled in the 1960s were an educated elite, schooled in the tradition that Cuba was the most
sophisticated country in Latin America.
Perhaps most importantly, politics plays a role in the Cuban community unlike that in
other Latino group. The Cubans originally came to America not because they chose to better
themselves. They came because a political upheaval drove them there. Cubans sometimes
compare themselves to the Palestinians and see themselves not as immigrants, engaging in
the country of their adoption, but as exiles, temporarily building a base from which to return.
The mentality of exile can be pressed too far. “We live here, we live in day-to-day
society,” says Domingo Moreira, an influential member of the main lobby group, the Cuban
American National Foundation. Thomas Wenski, the auxiliary bishop of Miami, points out
that the very act of organizing themselves politically and sending representatives to Congress
shows the Cubans are following the path of assimilation blazed by other groups such as the
Italians and Irish.
What marks the Cubans out is the role that politics, and in particular the politics of
Cuba, plays in their affairs. Few Mexican-Americans are involved in the doings of the PRI.
When a law was passed recently permitting them dual nationality, hardly anyone applied. But
overthrowing the Castro regime is the raison d’etre of the leaders of Miami’s Cubans. And
every day, 90 miles away, Fidel Castro – a product of the same cultural background as the
Miami exiles – provokes his enemies across the seas, skillfully keeping the politics of his
island their top priority.

1. Who are the other Latino immigrants of the US? Compare their financial and
educational situation to that of the Cubans of Miami! (4)

2. What difference is drawn between an exile and an immigrant? (2)

3. What kind of political upheaval forced the Cubans to the US? (2)

4. What is special about the assimilation of the Cubans according to Thomas Wenski? (3)

5. To which wave of immigrants did the Irish and the Italians belong? [You should draw
on your textbook knowledge here!] (2)

6. Compare the political attitude of the Mexican-Americans and the Cubans of Miami!
(4)
C. Affirmative action

For Mignon Williams, 42, a black marketing executive in Rochester, New York,
affirmative action means opportunity. Recruited by Xerox Corp. in 1977 under a pioneering
plan to hire women and minorities, Williams rose to division vice president in just 13 years.
While Williams attributes her success to hard work and business savvy, she acknowledges that
her race and her sex played a role in her rapid rise. Affirmative action, she says, „opened the
door, but it’s not a free pass. If anything, you feel like you’re under a microscope and have to
constantly prove yourself by overachieving and never missing the mark.”
For Roy V. Smith, 40, a black 18-year veteran of the Chicago police force, affirmative
action means frustration. Since 1973, court-ordered hiring quotas and the aggressive
recruitment of minorities have expanded black representation on the 12,004-member force
from 16% to 24%. Smith contends, however, that gender and race have not opened doors for
him but shut them. He has been denied promotion to sergeant so that Hispanics and females
who scored lower on exams could be given the higher-ranking positions set aside for those
groups. He worries that even if he is promoted, the achievement may be so tainted by
affirmative action that he will be perceived as a „quota sergeant”. Last year he joined a
reverse-discrimination lawsuit against the city of Chicago by 313 police officers, mostly
white. „I am not anti-affirmative action”, he says. „ I am just against the way it is being used.
It’s something that started out good and now has gotten out of hand.”
On one side of the argument, a small but widely publicized group of black
conservatives contends that efforts to combat racial discrimination through quotas, racially
weighted tests and other techniques have psychologically handicapped blacks by making them
dependent on racial-preference programs rather than their own hard work. Shelby Steele
asserts that affirmative action has reinforced a self-defeating sense of victimization among
blacks by encouraging them to pin their failures on white racism instead of their own
shortcomings. Says he: „Blacks now stand to lose more from affirmative action than they
gain.”
On the other side, the heads of civil rights organizations – and most African Americans
– insist that racial discrimination is so entrenched at all levels of U.S. society that only
affirmative action can overcome it. They charge that Steele and other critics greatly understate
white resistance to black progress. Supporters of affirmative action say, expecting blacks to
pull themselves up by their bootstraps is unrealistic. Argues Benjamin L. Hooks: „It’s still the
responsibility of the government to provide a good school system for us and fair and equal
access to jobs.”

1. What does Ms. Williams mean by saying that „Affirmative action opened the door, but it’s
not a free pass.”? (3)
2. What do „hiring quotas” mean? (2)
3. Why does Mr. Smith feel that affirmative action has hindered his progress? (3)
4. What does he mean by „quota sergeant”? (2)
5. What is the purpose of the reverse-discrimination lawsuit which police officers started
against the city of Chicago? What do they want to prove or achieve? (4)
6. According to the critics of affirmative action, what is the psychological disadvantage of
affirmative action? (3)
7. According to the supporters of affirmative action, why is affirmative action still necessary?
(3)
D. Segregation in schools

When you look at racial segregation in America’s schools, another new study
presents a bleak picture. The Harvard report, by Erica Frankenberg and Chungmei Lee,
produces some discouraging figures from the country’s public – state-run – schools.
After the schools began desegregating in the mid-1950s, they became steadily more
integrated until the late 1980s; but then the trend slowed down, and went into reverse. Now
two-fifth of all public-school pupils are non-white. A ninth of all Latino students, and one-
sixth of black students, attend “apartheid schools”, as a report calls them, that are almost
100% non-white. On average, white children go to schools that are 80% white.
Segregation is worst in the larger city school systems, where enrolment is now
overwhelmingly non-white. Yet it is also a problem in the suburbs, where schools once
largely white are now mostly black or brown. As the minorities move out from the city
centers, whites move even farther out. To achieve desegregation, children were once moved
by bus between school districts; but a Supreme Court decision of 1979, blocking
desegregation in suburban Detroit, began the end of the practice. By 1994 Detroit had the
highest level of between-district segregation in metropolitan areas. As the report shows,
schools now closely follow housing patterns; if these are heavily segregated, the schools will
be too.
The report’s most striking finding, however, is the emergence of Latinos both as the
fastest growing minority and the most segregated one. There are now 7.5m Latinos in the
public schools, catching up with the 8m blacks. In Florida alone, Latino enrolment in the past
30 years has grown by more than 600%. They are divided from whites and blacks not only by
race but also by poverty and language. They also do worst at school, with the highest drop-
out rates. Because they were unimportant then, Latinos were not included in most of the
court-ordered desegregations of the 1960s. Their presence now is worrying proof that racial
segregation in the schools will get worse before it gets better.

1. What does ‘racial segregation’ mean? What types of segregation are referred to in the
article? (3)

2. This text is from The Economist, a British weekly magazine. Why do you think the
author considered it important to identify US public schools as “public – state-run –
schools”? [You should draw on your textbook knowledge here!] (3)

3. What was the famous case court case that started desegregation in the mid-1950s?
Describe it in 3 sentences! [You should draw on your textbook knowledge here!] (4)

4. Compare the largest city school systems and that of the suburb from the point of view
of segregation! What general pattern can be observed? (4)

5. Which group is affected most by segregation? What reasons are cited by the text? (4)

6. Explain with your own words! (2)

 highest drop-out rate –
 metropolitan area -
Comprehension exercises to: Government and politics

A. Open primaries

Are party primaries an obstacle to good government? Michael Bloomberg, New

York’s mayor, put $2m of his own money behind a ballot initiative to replace the city’s
current system of “closed” primaries, restricted to members of each party, with a single
“open” primary, where everybody could vote and the first two people would go to a run-off.
New Yorkers rejected it this week by a two-to-one margin, but the idea is gathering support
elsewhere as a possible cure for political ailments ranging from voter apathy to partisanship.
It is not hard to see why open primaries might appeal to Mr Bloomberg, a media
mogul who became a moderate Republican just before he ran for office. New York is close to
a one party city, where the Democratic primary, which is closely patrolled by party officials
and leftish interest groups, normally decides the eventual winner. Mr Bloomberg said an open
primary would allow more outsiders into the process and would also enfranchise independent
voters, the fastest-growing part of the electorate. At the moment, many don’t bother to vote,
as the result in the general election is a foregone conclusion.
Mr Bloomberg’s idea was fought hardest by the barons who run the current primary
system, particularly the trade unions. But he also faced opposition from those who think that
political parties should be allowed to govern their own affairs.
Open primaries are used in elections in other cities and even at state level in
Louisiana. Now, in California, Richard Riodan, another moderate Republican, is promoting
open primaries as a way to save the state from extremism. Closed primaries, he says, force
candidates to appeal to a rabid ideological base. Despite being the most popular gubernatorial
candidate last year, Mr Riodan failed to get the Republican nomination because he was too
moderate. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who swept to victory in this year’s weird but open recall
election, might well not have survived a Republican primary either.

1. Who is elected in a primary election? (2)

2. What is the fundamental difference between the open and the closed primary? (3)

3. Explain the following sentence! Don’t use the words in italics! “The ballot initiative
was rejected by a two-to-one margin.” (2)

4. What does it mean that New York is “close to a one party city”? Explain it in your own
words! (3)

5. Why would, according to Mr Bloomberg, New York benefit from an open primary? (4)

6. Why does Richard Riodan claim that open primaries would “save the state from
extremism”? (3)

7. In which state was Arnold Schwarzenegger elected governor? Judging from the text, do
you think he was a conservative or a moderate Republican candidate? (3)
B. George W. Bush and blacks

No way was Bush going to evoke that kind of inexplicable passion [as Clinton did] –
certainly not among those who composed Clinton’s most loyal constituency. But there was an
expectation among liberal black activists that, even if he wasn’t their man, Bush might at least
invite them to dance. “We hoped for a period in which there would have been healing
gestures,” said Wade Henderson, of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. “Instead we
got an in-your-face repudiation of that very concept.” By nominating John Ashcroft and other
hard-core conservatives, Bush has turned wariness into rage.
Civil-rights leaders are also loath to give Bush much credit for appointing a cabinet
they freely admit is the most ethnically diverse in history. For one thing, they see more
opportunism than statesmanship in Bush’s selection of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
Such appointments gave the relatively inexperienced Bush the opportunity to “gain stature
associating himself with men and women of higher stature,” noted Henderson. And since
Powell and Rice have nothing to do with domestic policy (the paramount concern of most
civil-rights activists), they cannot modify what critics fear will be a regressive social agenda.
Even the universally acclaimed designation of Rod Paige as secretary of Education has done
little to appease the anger at Bush. As Al Sharpton explained it: “Someone like John Ashcroft
as attorney general is tantamount to canceling three good appointments.”
Bush’s supporters see such complaints as little more than the whining of partisan, race-
baiting crybabies and reject the notion that civil-rights leaders speak for black America. “The
civil-rights community is out of touch with reality. With them, race trumps everything.
Unfortunately the civil-rights movement has become an arm of the liberal wing of the
Democratic Party,” complained Robert Woodson, a black conservative who heads the
National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise.”

1. How could you define the meaning of civil rights activists on the basis of this passage?
(2)

2. What does the expression about Bush inviting liberal black activists to a dance
suggest? (2)

3. What did the Bush administration do to meet the expectations of the black civil-rights
activists? (3)

4. Why is George W. Bush criticised for his “multiethnic” cabinet? (2)

5. What do you think civil-rights activists mean by „hard-core conservatives” and a

„regressive social agenda”? [You should draw on your textbook knowledge here!] (3)

6. What does Robert Woodson mean by the sentence „With them, race trumps
everything”? On what grounds does he reject their criticism? (4)
Comprehension exercises to: Legal system

A. Supreme Court

Everything about the Supreme Court of the United States is designed to command
reverence. The court is housed in a marble palace that looks down over Congress (which in
turn looks down on the White House). The building is decorated with imposing statues and
pompous Latin mottoes about the many splendours of the law. The nine black-robed justices
conduct their business in an atmosphere of hushed high seriousness.
And reverence is exactly what the Supreme Court has been given, at least for the past
few decades. Americans talk about the institution in the much the same way as Britons once
talked about their monarchy.
The current reverence for the court is the result not only of its position in the
constitution but of its exemplary conduct, particularly in providing black Americans with civil
rights. It was not a politician who demanded the integration of the nation’s schools. It was the
court, in its unanimous 1954 ruling in the case of Brown vs. Board of Education. This ruling
acknowledged what many people had long felt, that segregation was morally indefensible,
socially irrational and politically undemocratic. It spurred the spread of civil-rights agitation.
And it prepared the way for further rulings by the court designed to heal America’s ancient
racial wounds.
Several dissenting justices worried about the impact of Tuesday’s decision on the
public’s confidence in the court – a public treasure that has been built up over many years, in
Justice Breyer’s phrase. Perhaps it is worth recalling Walter Bagehot’s comment on another
revered institution, the British monarchy. “Its mystery is its life. We must not let daylight
upon magic.” One of the many tragedies of this [presidential] election is that it may have let
too much daylight into the magic of America’s most mysterious institution.

1 What is the symbolical meaning that sentence 2 suggests about the relationship between the
Supreme Court, Congress and the White House? (3)

2. What are the sources of the Supreme Court’s respect and reverence mentioned in the
passage? (2)

3. What parallels do you think make the Supreme Court similar to the British monarchy? (3)

4. What does “unanimous ruling” mean when talking about Supreme Court decisions? (2)

5. According to the text, what was the importance and the impact of the ruling in the case of
Brown vs. Board of Education like? (3)

6. The „Tuesday decision” mentioned in the text is the decision in December 2000 which
stopped the recount of votes in Florida and therefore essentially made George W. Bush
president of the US. With that knowledge in mind, why is Justice Breyer worried about the
public’s confidence in the court? Why would this decision threaten the „magic” of the
Supreme Court? (4)
 B. Capital punishment

Can America’s long love affair with death be cooling? In two recent decisions, the
Supreme Court has spared the life of up to a quarter of the country’s death-row inmates. It
has also reconsidered its own views on when the death penalty is warranted and when it is
not.
First, the court ruled six-to-three that executing the mentally retarded violates the Eight
Amendment’s ban on “cruel and unusual” punishment. The court has long held that the
judgment of what is cruel and unusual must reflect ”an evolving standard of decency”, and
cited a trend among states to ban executions of the retarded. The decision stopped the
execution in Virginia of Daryl Atkins, who is said to have an IQ of 59, and stayed the
executions of around 160 people whose IQs were less than 70, the generally accepted
definition of retardation.
In its second decision, the court ruled that only juries can impose death penalty,
overturning an Arizona law upheld 12 years ago in another case. With the two justices from
Arizona, Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, dissenting, the
majority ruled that under the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a jury trial, a judge cannot
displace a jury in imposing a death sentence or impose a harsher penalty.
The next likely front for opponents of death penalty is the execution of offenders who
committed murders while minors, a practice that puts America in the company of Iran, Saudi
Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan and Nigeria. Although several states have banned the execution of
people for crimes committed before they were 18, other states set the age limit at 16, and 83
juvenile offenders are currently on death row. Yet the court said, in the retardation case, that
there is not yet a comparable consensus on juveniles, so this issue will have to wait a few
more years.

1. What is meant by “America’s long love affair with death”? (2)

2. Explain the meaning of the phrase “death-row inmates”! (2)

3. Which part of the Constitution is the Supreme Court quoting in both court cases? Why
is it relevant? [You should draw on your textbook knowledge here!] (3)

4. Explain in detail what is meant by ‘the court ruled six-to-three’ in the first case! How
did the court rule in the second case? (3)

5. Explain in your own words what was possible in Arizona until the Supreme Court’s
recent decision? (3)

6. How is it possible that various states have different laws about the age limit of
juveniles? [You should draw on your textbook knowledge here!] (2)

7. What is the difference, according to the Supreme Court, between the case of minors
and the case of the mentally retarded? (2)

8. Collect synonyms for ‘capital punishment’ from the article! (3)

Comprehension exercises to: Values

A. Patriotism

European and American patriotism are different. Patriotic Europeans take pride in a
nation, a tract of land or a language they are born into. You cannot become un-French. In
contrast, patriotic Americans have a dual loyalty: both to their country and to the ideas it
embodies. “He loved his country,” said Lincoln of Henry Clay, “partly because it was his
own country, but mostly because it was a free country”. As the English writer G.K.
Chesterton said in 1922, America is the only country based on a creed, enshrined in its
constitution and declaration of independence. People become American by adopting the
creed, regardless of language. And you can become un-American – by rejecting the creed.
This dual character softens American patriotism. “My country, right or wrong” may be
an American phrase (it comes from a toast by Stephen Decatur, an American naval hero), but
only one American in two agrees with it, according to the Pew survey. Only two years after
September 11th, fewer than half the respondents supported the statement that “We should try
to get even with any country that tries to take advantage of the United States.”
However, there is one trend in American opinion that should give pause for thought.
Republicans have long been slightly more likely than Democrats to say they are intensely
patriotic, but the gap has widened dramatically, and is now by far the largest on record. In
2003, 71% of Republicans said they were intensely patriotic, compared with only 48% of
Democrats. An even larger gap has opened up in responses to the proposition that “the best
way to ensure peace is through military strength.” The number of Democrats who agreed
with that sentiment slumped from 55% in 2002 to 44% this year.
The intensity gap may well reflect differing attitudes to the war of Iraq, the domestic
effects of which will presumably fade with time. But the gap may also be an early indication
of a more lasting split: over the passion of loyalty, and what it counts as “real” patriotism.

1. Explain in your own words what elements is the patriotism of Europeans built on? (3)

2. What is meant by G.K. Chesterton’s words that America is a country based on a creed?
(4)

3. To which patriotism would the phrase “My country, right or wrong” be more
appropriate? The European or the American? Why? (4)

4. What is referred to as “September 11th,” and how is it related to the quoted statement
in paragraph 2? (3)

5. Characterize the patriotism of the Republicans and the Democrats! (3)

Comprehension exercises to: Society and Urban life

A. Endangered California

For something as ephemeral as a dream, Californians have always had a fairly exact
fix on what theirs consisted of: economic opportunity; the freedom to jump in a car and drive
to the beach or mountains; and, perhaps most important of all, what economist Steven
Thompson describes as "a little house in the suburbs with a barbecue and – if you make it – a
swimming pool." But these days, from Chico in the north to Chula Vista in the south,
Californians are anxiously debating whether that straightforward dream can be attained or
should even be pursued.
Optimists, in which the state traditionally abounds, brush off the gloomy predictions.
They point to unique underlying strengths such as the nine-campus, Nobel-rich University of
California, which some educators think may be the best public university in the world; the
unsung incorruptability of most of the state's civil servants; the magic copper light that
descends on the beaches at sunset; even the savage majesty of streaming headlights on the
freeways on a clear night. Finally, they single out what Mark Davis extols as "a new pioneer
spirit" among the waves of recent foreign immigrants that may infuse California with a new
dynamism.
Pessimists, on the other hand, are ready to conclude that California is over the hill,
descending a spiral of environmental, fiscal and social calamities. The main problem
underlying California's malaise is simple: the state is attracting far more people than it can
cope with. Though the influx has ushered in a vibrant multicultural society, it has also had dire
effects. Smog, most of all from the 25 million vehicles on the freeways, was already fouling
the air in Los Angeles. Suburban sprawl has meant clogged traffic over ever greater
commuting distances as residents move farther and farther from the urban cores in search of
affordable homes.

1. According to paragraph 1, what are the major constituents of the Californian dream?
Explain it in your own words! (3)

2. Paragraph 2 lists some of the strengths and attractions of California. Explain the meaning of
"the unsung incorruptability of most of the state's civil servants"! (3)

3. What is meant by the term "a new pioneer spirit"? Where do most recent foreign
immigrants of California come from? (4)

4. "A little house in the suburbs..."; how does this part of the Californian dream contribute to
California’s problems? (3)

5. What is meant by the term "suburban sprawl"? (2)

Comprehension exercises to: Education

A. Higher Education

D’Youville College offers over 30 different academic majors that emphasize preparing
students to be outstanding citizens and professionals in their field. D’Youville offers the
degrees of BA, BSc and MSc. The admission decision is based on high school grade point
average, rank in class, and scores on the SAT or ACT. Students who have difficulty meeting
normal admission standards may be admitted with a reduced academic load.

1. Explain the meaning of the abbreviations: BA, BSc, and MSc (3).

2. What do SAT and ACT stand for? What do they measure? (3)

3. What choice does a student have who acquired a BA in History at this college? (2)

4. What is the meaning of the phrases “grade point average” and „rank in class” in the
text? (4)

5. Are students automatically admitted to this college if their high schools results are
good? (2)

6. What does the last sentence mean? Which principle of American education can be
identified here? Justify your answer. (4)
B. School and Society

The struggle starts in the schools, which in many places still close in midafternoon.
Even wealthy communities are beginning to recognize the folly of locking buildings for large
chunks of the day when they’re needed for recreation, tutoring and arts. Some districts
embrace change; others actually move in the wrong direction. The current school schedule –
six hours a day, nine months a year – was invented when the United States was an agrarian
nation and children were needed in the fields.
Today, three out of four mothers of school-age children work outside the home. So it’s
not so surprising that by the time they are 12 years old, nearly 35 percent of American
children are regularly left on their own. For the rest – the lucky ones – parents work by remote
control to pull together a patchwork of supervised activities. Some child-care programs
provide terrific enrichment; others amount to little more than warehousing. TV and
videogames usually fill the gap. The average American child spends 900 hours a year in
school – and 1500 hours a year watching television.

1. According to the author, which would be the right direction for schools to move to?
(2)

2. Why does the current school schedule have the form it actually has? (2)

3. What social changes are discussed in paragraph 2? Sum them up in your own words!
(3)

4. Does school respond to the urges of society? (2)

 C. Affirmative action at universities

On January 15th George Bush waded into the most important affirmative-action case for
a generation. The case, which the Supreme Court is considering in its current session,
concerns three white students who have sued the University of Michigan for discrimination.
The university’s affirmative action program gives minority students 20 points out of a
possible 150 just because of the color of their skin. Mr Bush called this “fundamentally
flawed”, unconstitutional and nothing less than a “quota system”.
The administration has been pulled by two opposite forces over affirmative action. The
president’s conservative base fiercely opposes race-based preferences. Theodore Olson, the
solicitor general, argued that not even diversity can justify the use of quotas. But Mr Bush’s
legal counsel, Alberto Gonzales, who wants to court more minority voters, pushed in the
other direction.
The result is a bit of a fudge. Mr Bush said that he strongly supports diversity of all
kinds in higher education. But he insisted that you can achieve diversity without resorting to
quotas. California, Florida and Texas have all done this by guaranteeing admissions to the top
students from high schools across the state, including low-income neighborhoods.
The fudge reflects what the American public feels. Voters strongly approve of giving a
helping hand to minorities, but they dislike quotas. A California proposition that banned
racial preferences passed by a margin of 55% to 45%.
That said, filing a brief in favor of a bunch of white students is risky for the White
House. The Democrats pounced on Mr Bush’s statement as a blow to civil rights. And Mr
Bush is hardly a poster-boy for meritocracy. Would this self-confessed C-student really have
got into Yale if his father and grandfather had not been alumni, and his grandfather had not
sat on the board of trustees?

1. What does “affirmative action” and “quota system” mean? Why is the second
unacceptable for the general public? (4)

2. Why is the government’s opinion divided about the case? What groups of voters are
they trying to satisfy? (4)

3. How do California, Florida and Texas guarantee diversity in education? What is the
advantage of such a method and what drawbacks can you see? (3)

4. Explain the argument of the Democratic Party that Bush’s position is a “blow to civil
rights”! (3)

5. Explain the following expressions in your own words! (4)

 To file a brief –
 Self-confessed C-student –
 Mr Bush is hardly a poster-boy for meritocracy -
 Father and grandfather had been alumni -
Comprehension exercises to: Religion

A. Saddleback church

Saddleback church could exist only in America. On any Sunday, over 3,000 people
from the suburbs of southern Los Angeles flock to the main Worship Centre, which looks less
like a cathedral than an airport terminal. If you want to experience the rock bands, theatrical
shows and powerpoint sermons in a traditional church, you can: they are piped into one by
video link. Or you can watch service on huge video screens while sipping a cappuccino in an
outdoor café.
But in case you think this is religion light, Rick Warren, the pastor, will quickly
encourage you to join one of the thousands of smaller groups that are the real life of the
church. Saddleback members will help you find a school, a friend, a job or God.
There is evidence that private belief is becoming more intense in America. The Pew
Research center reported that the number of those who “agree strongly” with three articles of
faith (belief in God, in judgment day and in the importance of prayer in daily life) rose by
seven to ten points in 1965-2003. In the late 1980s, two-fifth of Protestants described
themselves as “born again”; now the figure is over half.
The importance of religion in America goes well beyond personal belief. Back in the
1960s 53% of Americans thought churches should not be involved in politics, and 22%
thought members of the clergy should not even mention candidates for public office from the
pulpit. By 1996, these numbers had reversed: 54% thought it was fine for churches to talk
about political and social issues, and 20% thought even stump speeches were permissible in
church.
These shifts in opinion have given a boost to one particular group of churches: evangelical
Protestants. They embrace a variety of denominations, including Baptists, Confessional and
Pentecostal churches, all of which stress individual salvation and the word of the Bible rather
than sacraments or established doctrine. In 1987, they were the third largest religious group
in America, with a membership of 24% of the adult population; now they are the largest, with
30%. The percentage of Catholics has stayed stable, largely thanks to Latino immigrants, but
established Protestant churches, such as Presbyterians, have declined sharply.

1. To what groups of churches does Saddleback Church belong? Why? (2)

2. Explain the meaning of the phrase “judgement day”! (1)
3. Who are “born again” Christians? What does their increasing number indicate? (3)
4. What is meant by “established” church in the text? How are they affected by the recent
increase of religious intensity? (4)
5. On the basis of the text and your own background knowledge, how would you
describe evangelical Protestant churches? What makes them different? (4)
6. Describe the traditional ideas on the relationship between church and state in the
United States! Can you see any change or development from the opinion polls? (4)
7. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases! (2)
 Pentecost –
 Stump speech -