A Quilt of a country

Vocab Meaning

100

The author states that America is an ___________(not possible)

idea

improbable

200

An assortment of different types

                                   

    

diversity

300

a person or breed of mixed descent

A mongrel

400

                                               

the author's position on the issue/argument

                                   

    

claim

500

                                               

Related to a system in which multiple things coexist together 

Hint: many as in " a _________ society"

                                   

    

pluralistic

comprehension 1

100

                                               

What does the author say was built in nobody's image?

                                   

    

America

200

                                               

What is the United States compared to?

                                   

    

A quilt

300

                                               

  ( T or F ) Often told stories of the United States are of love and tolerance.

                                   

    

True

400

                                               

                                               

 According to the text, what class do children learn about the “lynching of blacks”?

    

                                   

    

social studies

500

                                               

Who characterized the United States as a “community added to individualism?

                                   

    

Mario Cuomo

Comprehension skills

100

According to "A Quilt of a Country," how is the United States similar to a quilt?

• A.It is beautiful and practical.
• B.It is patched together from dissimilar parts.
• C.It was created through hard work and determination.

B.It is patched together from dissimilar parts.

200

What does the author of "A Quilt of a Country" believe is the most likely reason that many Americans accept new immigrants to this country?

• A.Americans accept new immigrants because they bring new customs and ways of life into American society.
• B.Americans accept new immigrants because their children tend to raise the educational standards in American schools.
• C.Americans accept new immigrants because they are a reminder of how Americans' immigrant ancestors adapted to American life.

C.Americans accept new immigrants because they are a reminder of how Americans' immigrant ancestors adapted to American life.

300

What main message is the writer trying to communicate in "A Quilt of a Country"?

• A.The United States is very different from other countries.
• B. It is amazing that a country made up of such diverse people can be united as one nation.
• C. A nation in which people are so deeply divided by ethnicity, background, and customs makes no sense

B.  It is amazing that a country made up of such diverse people can be united as one nation.

400

The author believes the historians have done what two things?

The historians have forgotten the past or gilded it (made it look better) 

500

 Why would Jewish boys walk several blocks out of their way?

To avoid being beat up 

Analyze vocabulary

100

A quilt like America is made of interwoven pieces.

What does interwoven mean?

blended, mixed together, laced together

200

Which sentence gives the most accurate description of a pluralistic society?

• A. A pluralistic society contains a mix of religions, cultures, and traditions.
• B. In a pluralistic society, each member has more than one way of doing things.
• C. In a pluralistic society, people share their culture and traditions with others.

A. A pluralistic society contains a mix of religions, cultures, and traditions.

300

Which is the best example of diversity in a town?

• A.The town is run by a mayor and a city council.
• B.The town has gas stations, markets, and office buildings.
• C.The town has residents from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

• C.The town has residents from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

400

How does the Latin prefix dis- affect the meaning of the word to which it is added? example: respect/disrespect

• A.It changes the word to mean its opposite.
• B.It changes the word's part of speech.
• C.It indicates a state of being unusual.
• D.It indicates a state of being new.

A.It changes the word to mean its opposite.

500

The word discredit is formed from the verb credit, meaning “to have confidence in" or "to honor or esteem someone or something,” and from the Latin prefix dis-. Based on this information and your knowledge of the prefix dis-, choose the most likely meaning of the verb discredit.

• A.to tear up a credit card
• B.to praise or honor a person
• C.to refuse to give someone money
• D.to damage the reputation of someone

• D. to damage the reputation of someone

Reading skills

100

Which of the following is the author’s main purpose in “A Quilt of a Country”?

• A. to entertain  Americans about 9/11
• B. to reflect on how America is united despite its many ethnic groups
• C. to explain the reasons behind the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001
• D. to entertain readers with a description of the many cultures that make up America

• B. to reflect on how America is united despite its many ethnic groups

200

Read the following quotation from "A Quilt of a Country."

I was the product of a mixed marriage, across barely bridgeable lines: an Italian girl, an Irish boy. How quaint it seems now, how incendiary then.

In what way does this quotation most clearly help the author meet her purpose in writing?

• A. It shows that her own experiences make her an authority on her topic.
• B. It uses her own experience to illustrate a key point about American identity..
• C. It offers her own experience as an example of the dangers she is warning us about.

• B. It uses her own experience to illustrate a key point about American identity.

300

Citizens of the United States have come together because of

 a) politics

 b) their favorite sports team

 c) armed conflict and enemy attack

 d) common religious beliefs

 c) armed conflict and enemy attack

400

In “A Quilt of a Country,” what is the most likely purpose for Quindlen’s offering the metaphor of a quilt when America was suffering from the attacks on September 11?

• A.She points out  the diversity of a quilt as a way of warning people not to reject the unknown just because they had been hurt.
• B. She points out  the diversity of a quilt as a way of lifting people above sorrow by reinforcing their pride in their country.

• B. She points out the diversity of a quilt as a way of lifting people above sorrow by reinforcing their pride in their country.

500

Which of the following is the effect that Quindlen creates by repeating the word enormous in this sentence from “A Quilt of a Country”?

Perhaps they understand it at this moment, when enormous tragedy, as it so often
does, demands a time of reflection on enormous blessings.

• A.The effect is to make a sarcastic contrast between a tragic reality and the blessings it destroyed.
• B.The effect is to prove that two opposing ideas, tragedy and blessings, are really the same.
• C.The effect is to help the reader shift from one idea, tragedy, to its opposite, blessings.
• D.The effect is to explain how bad situations always lead to good outcomes.

C. The effect is to help the reader shift from one idea, tragedy, to its opposite, blessings.