Upper Level ISEE Reading Practice Test 66

1 The midterm elections of 2014 had
2 the lowest voter turnout of any American
3 election cycle since World War II, with only
4 36.4 percent of the eligible voting public
5 casting a ballot. What is most disturbing
6 about this number is that it was less than
7 100 years ago that 200 women marched on
8 the White House, incurring public scorn,
9 arrest, and even torture, to secure the vote
10 for half the American public.
11 Women's Suffrage, the movement
12 dedicated to securing women's right to
13 vote in the United States, began in earnest
14 in the 1840s. Several Women's Rights
15 Conventions were held throughout the 19th
16 century, beginning with the Seneca Falls
17 Convention of 1848, during which attendees
18 officially passed a resolution in favor of
19 Women's Suffrage. Over the next 70 years,
20 many brave women fought for the cause of
21 basic gender equality.
22 This fight came to a head in 1917, when
23 members of the National Women's Party,
24 led by Alice Paul, picketed outside the
25 White House in order to influence President
26 Wilson and Congress to pass an amendment
27 to the United States Constitution that
28 would enfranchise women and guarantee
29 their voting rights. This was the first time
30 in the history of the United States that the
31 White House was picketed, and it was
32 done so in an orderly and peaceful fashion.
33 After months of nonviolent protest, police
34 arrested over 200 women for blocking a
35 public sidewalk in July 1917.
36 Paul and many of her followers
37 underwent a hunger strike during their
38 incarceration to protest the deplorable
39 conditions of the prison, which resulted
40 in many women being force-fed and Paul
41 herself being moved to the psychiatric
42 ward of the hospital. The rest were sent
43 to the Occoquan Workhouse. It was at
44 this workhouse that the most terrible and
45 significant event of the Women's Suffrage
46 movement would occur. Dubbed the "Night
47 of Terror," 44 guards armed with clubs
48 attacked 33 women protesters as they
49 returned to the house. They were brutally
50 beaten, choked, and one was stabbed to
51 death. These events infuriated the nation
52 when they were exposed, and within two
53 weeks a judge had ordered the prisoners
54 released and cleared of all charges.
55 Due to the widespread gain of support
56 these women earned through their peaceful
57 protest and physical endurance, as well as
58 the work of countless men and women of
59 the previous 70 years, the 19th Amendment
60 was added to the Constitution three years
61 later, on August 20, 1920.

1. The main purpose of the passage is to

• A. portray Alice Paul as an integral figure of the Women's Suffrage movement
• B. attribute the adoption of the 19th Amendment solely to the Night of Terror
• C. describe the actions taken by part of the American public to secure equal voting rights
• D. demonstrate the terrible actions of guards against women's rights protestors

2. The word "exposed" as used in line 52 most closely means

• A. unprotected
• B. bare
• C. revealed
• D. buried

3. Which of the following best expresses the author's attitude toward the percentage of voter turnout mentioned in the first paragraph?

• A. Shock
• B. Reassurance
• C. Pessimism
• D. Terror

4. According to the author, the most probable legacy of the Night of Terror is

• A. President Wilson's pardon of the protestors
• B. the imprisonment of the 44 guards who attacked the protesters
• C. the desired delay of the 19th amendment for several years
• D. the right to vote for women

5. Which of the following does the passage imply was a reason for the protestor's hunger strike?

• A. They were attempting to improve the environment of their captivity.
• B. They were resisting being force-fed at the prison.
• C. They wanted to be able to use the sidewalk for peaceful protest.
• D. They were unable to eat after being choked during the Night of Terror.

6. The author believes that the National Women's Party's tactics are best described as

• A. calm but pointless
• B. disorderly but successful
• C. violent and immediate
• D. nonviolent and effective