From Watergate to the end of the Cold War

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A and B on gasoline prices (the table is exact; the note is in our words). Card A, table: the average retail price of a gallon of leaded regular gasoline (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2011, Table 5.24). 1977: $0.622 in dollars of each year, $1.646 in chained 2005 dollars. 1978: $0.627 and $1.551. 1979: $0.857 and $1.957. 1980: $1.191 and $2.492. Card B, "How to read the table". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The first column gives the price in the dollars of each year. The second column uses chained 2005 dollars, which adjust for the rise in prices in general so that different years can be compared. A rise in the first column can be a rise in the price of gasoline, a rise in all prices, or both.

2. 1.

   Ari uses both columns of Card A. How did the price of a gallon change from 1977 to 1978?

   • It rose slightly in both columns, since the table gives one price for each year in each column
   • It rose by half a cent in the dollars of each year, but fell by about 6 percent once adjusted for rising prices
   • It fell by half a cent in the dollars of each year, but rose about 6 percent when adjusted for prices in general
   • It rose about 6 percent in the adjusted column and by 50 cents in the first column
3. 2.

   A classmate says, "Gasoline prices rose 38 percent from 1977 to 1979, so drivers' costs rose 38 percent." Which objection is strongest for Bo?

   • The 38 percent uses the dollars of each year, which include rising prices in general; adjusted, it is about 19 percent
   • The classmate used the wrong years, since the table's four years show the biggest rise from 1979 to 1980
   • The rise was 23.5 percent, since $0.857 minus $0.622 is $0.235 and that number is the percent of the rise
   • Drivers' costs rose exactly 19 percent, since the adjusted column gives what each driver spent on gasoline in 1979

4. Use this

   Cards A to C on a veto in 1974 (the excerpt is exact; the summaries are in our words). Card A, "Ford returns the FOIA bill unsigned". Who made it: President Gerald R. Ford, in a veto message to the House of Representatives. When: October 17, 1974. For whom: the House of Representatives. Why: to explain why he would not sign H.R. 12471. Excerpt (Veto message on H.R. 12471, Freedom of Information Act amendments, October 17, 1974): "I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 12471, a bill to amend the public access to documents provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act. … First, I remain concerned that our military or intelligence secrets and diplomatic relations could be adversely affected by this bill. … Finally, the ten days afforded an agency to determine whether to furnish a requested document and the twenty days afforded for determinations on appeal are, despite the provision concerning unusual circumstances, simply unrealistic in some cases." Card B, "The override". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: President Ford vetoed H.R. 12471, a bill to amend the Freedom of Information Act, on October 17, 1974. Overriding a veto takes a vote of two-thirds of those voting in each house. On November 21, 1974, the House voted 371 to 31 and the Senate voted 65 to 27 to override, so the amendments became law. The Senate's history says the 1974 revision gave the public and the press new tools to get information held by the executive branch. Card C, "Two laws on openness". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Government in the Sunshine Act of 1976 opened federal agency meetings to the public. The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 made officials in the executive and judicial branches report their finances.

5. 3.

   Jun compares the two override votes in card B. Which conclusion about them is best supported?

   • The wide margins show that the public also wanted the Act, since two houses voted by large majorities to override
   • Both cleared two-thirds of the whole membership, since 371 of 435 is about 85 percent and 65 of 100 is 65 percent
   • Both cleared two-thirds of those voting, but the House's share, about 92 percent, was well above the Senate's, about 71 percent
   • The two houses backed the override about equally, since each one cleared the two-thirds of those voting that the rule requires
6. 4.

   A classmate says, "Ford vetoed the bill because he opposed public access to government records." Which objection is strongest for Kira?

   • Objecting to the bill's deadlines is the same as opposing public access, since deadlines are the tool of access
   • The excerpt names specific worries, secrets and short deadlines, so it supports a narrower claim about this bill
   • The override vote shows the bill was popular with the public, so Ford was out of step with voters
   • A veto shows the President disagrees with a bill's purpose, so the classmate's claim is correct and the point is settled
7. 5.

   Card A is Ford's veto message and card B includes the Senate's account. How do the two differ in what they stress, as Luz sees it?

   • Ford stresses risks to secrets and strain from deadlines; the Senate account stresses new tools for the public
   • Ford stresses new tools for the public and press, and the Senate account stresses risks to military secrets
   • Both stress that agencies needed more time to answer requests, so the accounts repeat each other
   • Ford stresses the 371 to 31 vote, and the Senate account stresses his concern for secrets
8. 6.

   Both accounts can be accurate. What best explains this to Milo?

   • The Senate's account is more reliable, since it describes what the law did while the President just predicted costs
   • Both describe the bill's effect on secrets, so they simply repeat each other in different words and are one account
   • They answer different questions: one weighs possible costs of the bill's provisions, the other the law's effect
   • Both are accurate because the override vote in 1974 showed that Congress and the President agreed on the facts
9. 7.

   A writer says, "The override shows Congress valued openness more than Ford did." Which part do the cards best support for Noah?

   • The votes were close, so Congress was divided on openness when it voted to override
   • Large majorities voted to override, 371 to 31 and 65 to 27, but the votes do not measure Ford's own view of openness
   • Congress passed laws on open meetings and officials' finances in 1976 and 1978, after the veto
   • Ford valued openness less than Congress, since the override shows he opposed openness in principle and held that view throughout

10. Use this

    Cards A to C on computers at home (the tables are exact; the notes are in our words). Card A, table: households with a computer (Census Bureau, report P23-207, Figure 1). 1984: 8.2 percent. 1989: 15.0 percent. 1993: 22.8 percent. 1997: 36.6 percent. August 2000: 51.0 percent; Internet access at home was 18.0 percent in 1997 and 41.5 percent in August 2000. Card B, table: families with a computer at home, by family income, August 2000 (Census Bureau, report P23-207, Table A; thousands of families). Under $25,000: 14,929 families, 28.2 percent with a computer. $25,000 to $34,999: 8,553, 47.1 percent. $35,000 to $49,999: 9,918, 61.8 percent. $50,000 to $74,999: 12,555, 75.1 percent. $75,000 and over: 15,040, 87.8 percent. All families: 72,044, 58.6 percent. Table note: the five income rows do not include families that did not report their income. Card C, "NSFNET, 1985 and 1987". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: On February 25, 1985, the National Science Foundation announced funds for supercomputing centers where researchers could model everything from molecules to the early universe. NSF connected those centers to its network of regional universities, creating NSFNET, which NSF calls the forerunner of the internet. On November 24, 1987, NSF awarded Merit, IBM and MCI an agreement to build a new high-speed backbone for NSFNET.

11. 8.

    In Card B the five income rows add to 60,995 thousand families, but "All families" is 72,044 thousand. What does this show Pia about the 58.6 percent?

    • The 58.6 percent is an average of the five rows, so it cannot be compared with any row's percentage
    • About 12,049 thousand families are missing, so the rows leave out one family in six and the share is unreliable
    • About 11,049 thousand families are in the total but in no income row, so 58.6 percent covers families the rows omit
    • The 11,049 thousand missing families had no computer, so the true national share is below 58.6 percent
12. 9.

    A classmate says, "Home computers spread fastest between 1993 and 1997." Which reply is strongest for Ren?

    • False, since 1989 to 1993 added the most points, 7.8, of any of the three periods between the years listed
    • False, since 1984 to 1989 covers five years and 1993 to 1997 just four, so the longer period shows more growth
    • True in points per year, about 3.5 against 1.4 and 2.0, but 1984 to 1989 grew about as fast as a yearly percent
    • True under any measure, so the classmate's claim needs no qualification, since the later period added the most points
13. 10.

    Tala wants to test the claim that price kept low-income families from owning computers in 2000. Which added evidence would help most?

    • The percent of households with a computer in 1984, when computers were new in homes across the country
    • A speech by a President about computers in schools, given in the same year as the survey
    • Computer prices in 2000 together with surveys asking low-income families why they did not have one
    • More rows of the same income table, showing the same families in finer income groups