Making Voting Mandatory,end bold,
One doesn't need to listen to politicians long before hearing that age-old phrase, "I want your vote." Of course, no politician, at least at the state and national level, gets everyone's vote. In fact, most elections are won by the candidate that gets more votes than anyone else. However, this usually turns out to be considerably fewer than a majority of the people the candidate actually represents.
This happens because, as a general rule, only about half the citizens eligible to vote actually get around to voting. Despite efforts by officials to allow early voting and absentee voting, most of the no-shows can be attributed to voter apathy, laziness, or ignorance of the issues.
Making voting mandatory would, over time, diminish the effect of these bad excuses and ensure us all of a more representative government. To make the voting process easier, provide a greater window, say ten days, for voting, and the inconvenience is reduced to nearly nothing. Provide a box on the ballot labeled "No acceptable candidate" in order to avoid forcing someone to vote for the lesser of two—or three or four—evils. The winner, of course, would be what we have now, the top vote getter from among those receiving votes. Over time, however, people would tire of selecting the default, and would make themselves better acquainted with the candidates and their issues.
Some would argue against this proposal on the grounds that forcing everyone to the polls would not work. Well, filing income tax is mandatory, and nearly everyone complies. Further, I would point to the many instances around the globe where mandatory voting is established and working.
,begin bold,Informed Voting,end bold,
When I hear a politician making a broad statement about wanting everyone's vote, I feel a little sick to my stomach. Generally about half the eligible citizens vote, and as far as I'm concerned, that's far too high. The proportion of uninformed and ill-informed votes in most elections has to be staggering.
Case in point: look at the quality of ads employed by the candidates. They are rife with distortions, catchy jingles, and lofty-sounding but empty rhetoric. In short, what people end up voting for is the best campaigner, not the most able senator, representative, or president.
I feel that it is not in our best interest to have politicians trying to appeal to everyone, and that is what would happen even more than now with mandatory voting. Messages would become even more "watered down" and vague. I don't want elected officials owing a lot of service to those who don't care about the system in the first place.
Let's quiz people on the essential principles of government before they are allowed to register. Thomas Jefferson said that democracy depends on an informed public, and I agree. Let's make every vote an informed vote, and then we'll have a truly representative government.
Question
On which issue do the authors ,begin emphasis,most,end emphasis, disagree?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
the importance of voting
2.
the value of high voter turnout
3.
the appeal of politicians to the voters
4.
the inconvenience of the voting process
Correct answer: 2. the value of high voter turnout
This passage, set in England in the early 1800s, focuses on Becky Sharp, a young woman of humble origins who has married a wealthy man.,end italics,
from ,begin bold,Vanity Fair,end bold,
The old haunts, the old fields and woods, the copses, ponds, and gardens, the rooms of the old house where [Becky] had spent a couple of years seven years ago, were all carefully revisited by her. She had been young there, or comparatively so, for she forgot the time when she ever ,begin italics,was,end italics, young—but she remembered her thoughts and feelings seven years back, and contrasted them with those which she had at present, now that she had seen the world and lived with great people, and raised herself far beyond her original humble station.
"I have passed beyond it, because I have brains," Becky thought, "and almost all the rest of the world are fools. I could not go back, and consort with those people now, whom I used to meet in my father's studio. Lords come up to my door with stars and garters instead of poor artists. . . . I have a gentleman for my husband, and an Earl's daughter for my sister in the very house where I was little better than a servant a few years ago. But am I much better to do now in the world than I was when I was the poor painter's daughter, and wheedled the grocer round the corner for sugar and tea? Suppose I had married Francis who was so fond of me—I couldn't have been much poorer than I am now. Heigho! I wish I could exchange my position in society, and all my relations for a snug sum in the Three per Cent. Consols;",superscript,1,baseline, for so it was that Becky felt the Vanity of human affairs, and it was in those securities that she would have liked to cast anchor.
(from ,begin underline,Vanity Fair,end underline, by William Makepeace Thackeray)
,fill in the blank,
,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline,Three per Cent. Consols,end bold, a type of government bond that was considered a reliable and safe investment
Question
At which point in the passage does Becky's tone change from contemptuous to regretful?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
when she forgets "she ever ,begin italics,was,end italics, young"
2.
when she realizes "I could not go back"
3.
when she notes "I was little better than a servant"
4.
when she asks if she is "much better to do now in the world"
Correct answer: 4. when she asks if she is "much better to do now in the world"
n this excerpt, four men have survived a shipwreck and are trying, despite rough water, to get to shore in a small lifeboat.,end italics,
from ,begin bold,The Open Boat,end bold,
As the boat bounced from the top of each wave, the wind tore through the hair of the hatless men, and as the craft plopped her stern down again the spray splashed past them. The crest of each of these waves was a hill, from the top of which the men surveyed for a moment a broad, tumultuous expanse, shining and wind-riven.,superscript,1,baseline, It was probably splendid, it was probably glorious, this play of the free sea, wild with lights of emerald and white and amber.
"Bully good thing it's an on-shore wind,,superscript,2,baseline," said the cook. "If not, where would we be? Wouldn't have a show."
"That's right," said the correspondent.
The busy oiler nodded his assent.
Then the captain, in the bow, chuckled in a way that expressed humor, contempt, tragedy, all in one. "Do you think we've got much of a show now, boys?" said he.
Whereupon the three were silent, save for a trifle of hemming and hawing. To express any particular optimism at this time they felt to be childish and stupid, . . . On the other hand, the ethics of their condition was decidedly against any open suggestion of hopelessness. So they were silent.
(from "The Open Boat" by Stephen Crane)
,fill in the blank,
,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline, riven,end bold, torn apart
,begin bold,,superscript,2,baseline, on-shore wind,end bold, a wind blowing toward the shore
Question
Which evidence from the passage ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, supports the inference that the men are distracted?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
the silence of the men after the captain asks his second question
2.
the description of the captain's chuckle as showing contempt and tragedy
3.
the use of "emerald" and "amber," jewel names, to describe the sea's colors
4.
the word "probably" in the description of the sea as "splendid" and "glorious"
Correct answer: 1. the silence of the men after the captain asks his second question
This semester, with some trepidation, I decided to take a class on Shakespeare's tragedies. I appreciate that Ms. Robertson establishes clear expectations for students: the course requirements are ,begin underline,rigorous,end underline, but fair. On the first day of class, she handed out a detailed syllabus listing all the required readings, in-class projects, homework assignments, and tests. The course is definitely challenging, but in a good way, and Ms. Robertson is always very supportive and encouraging.
Question
Select the ,begin emphasis,two,end emphasis, words that are most similar in meaning to ,begin emphasis,rigorous,end emphasis, as it is used in the passage.
Answer options with 5 options
1.
demanding
2.
harsh
3.
rigid
4.
severe
5.
thorough
Correct answer: 1. demanding and 5. thorough
from ,begin bold,Matthew Henson's Memoir,end bold,
paragraph 1,Exactly 40° below zero when we pushed the sledges up to the curled-up dogs and started them off over rough ice covered with deep soft snow. It was like walking in loose granulated sugar. Indeed I might compare the snow of the Arctic to the granules of sugar, without their saccharine sweetness, but with freezing cold instead; you cannot make snowballs of it, for it is too thoroughly congealed, and when it is packed by the wind it is almost as solid as ice. It is from the packed snow that the blocks used to form the igloo-walls are cut.
paragraph 2,At the end of four hours, we came to the igloo where the Captain and his boys were sleeping the sleep of utter exhaustion. In order not to interrupt the Captain's rest, we built another igloo and unloaded his sledge, and distributed the greater part of the load among the sledges of the party. The Captain, on awakening, told us that the journey we had completed on that day had been made by him under the most trying conditions, and that it had taken him fourteen hours to do it. We were able to make better time because we had his trail to follow, and, therefore, the necessity of finding the easiest way was avoided.
A photo and a caption. The black-and-white photo shows Matthew Henson. He is wearing a hood with a fur lining. Caption: Matthew Henson, 1866 to 1955.
(from ,begin underline,A Negro Explorer at the North Pole,end underline, by Matthew Henson)
Question
Which statement ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, expresses the central ideas developed in this passage?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
Two groups of explorers looked for a route through the Arctic snow, and the second group found a better route.
2.
Two groups of explorers traveled through severe winter weather, and the first group encountered more snow and ice.
3.
Two groups of explorers found traveling in the Arctic exhausting, but the second group was less tired because they traveled faster.
4.
Two groups of explorers made the same journey through deep snow, but the first group took longer because there was no trail.
Correct answer: 4. Two groups of explorers made the same journey through deep snow, but the first group took longer because there was no trail.
The author recalls a journey by steamboat that he made as a young man.,end italics,
from ,begin bold,Life on the Mississippi,end bold,
When we presently got under way and went poking down the broad Ohio, I became a new being, and the subject of my own admiration. I was a traveller! A word never had tasted so good in my mouth before. I had an exultant sense of being bound for mysterious lands and distant climes which I never have felt in so uplifting a degree since. I was in such a glorified condition that all ignoble feelings departed out of me, and I was able to look down and pity the untravelled with a compassion that had hardly a trace of contempt in it. Still, when we stopped at villages and wood-yards, I could not help lolling carelessly upon the railings of the boiler deck to enjoy the envy of the country boys on the bank. If they did not seem to discover me, I presently sneezed to attract their attention, or moved to a position where they could not help seeing me. And as soon as I knew they saw me I gaped and stretched, and gave other signs of being mightily bored with travelling.
(from ,begin underline,Life on the Mississippi,end underline, by Mark Twain)
Question 1
This question has two parts. Answer Part A, and then answer Part B.
,begin emphasis,Part A,end emphasis,
Which statement ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, describes the author's point of view about his younger self in this passage?
Question 1 Answer options with 4 options
1.
He wishes his younger self had taken a greater interest in travel.
2.
He thinks travel led his younger self to develop a sense of curiosity.
3.
He marvels at the accomplishments and maturity of his younger self.
4.
He finds the thoughts and behavior of his younger self to be amusing.
Question 2
,begin emphasis,Part B,end emphasis,
How does the author develop the correctly stated point of view from Part A?
Question 2 Answer options with 4 options
1.
by telling about the steamboat getting "under way"
2.
by telling about the "mysterious lands" he planned to visit
3.
by telling about an unfamiliar but uplifting "glorified condition"
4.
by telling about acting "mightily bored" for a group of country boys