Title: Lang Arts - Quiz 4
Course: Health Care Language Arts > Section: Learning Modules

This quiz is based on chapter 4 of Contemporary's GED Language Arts, Reading, chapters 9 and 10 of Contemporary's GED Langauge Arts, Writing, and chapter 6 of Contemporary's GED Social Studies.

This quiz is based on chapter 4 of Contemporary's GED Language Arts, Reading, chapters 9 and 10 of Contemporary's GED Langauge Arts, Writing, and chapter 6 of Contemporary's GED Social Studies. You can take the quiz as many times as you like, but only your last score will be recorded.

Q: Using the passage below, answer the following question:

Which description best matches the speaker?

Text:

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sic nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of. the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"
- a politician
- an all-knowing narrator
- a teacher or professor
- a holy person
A: a politician

Q: Using the passage below, answer the following question:

What best describes the tone of the passage?

Text:

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sic nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of. the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"
- serious and thoughtful
- funny and sarcastic
- desperate and troubled
- angry and antagonistic
A: serious and thoughtful

Q: Using the passage below, answer the following question:

What is the speaker contrasting freedom with?

Text:

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sic nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of. the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"
- communism
- democracy
- the Soviet Union
- Berlin
A: communism

Q: Using the passage below, answer the following question:

What is one of the goals of the speaker?

Text:

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sic nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of. the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"
- to end the division of Germany
- to get the German people to turn to communism
- to get the German people to embrace freedom
- to build a wall in Berlin
A: to end the division of Germany

Q: Using the passage below, answer the following question:

Based on the information in the text, what is the best English translation of "Ich bin ein Berliner"?

Text:

I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized throughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor who for so many years has committed Germany to democracy and freedom and progress, and to come here in the company of my fellow American, General Clay, who has been in this city during its great moments of crisis and will come again if ever needed.

Two thousand years ago the proudest boast was "civis Romanus sum." Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is "Ich bin ein Berliner."

I appreciate my interpreter translating my German!

There are many people in the world who really don't understand, or say they don't, what is the great issue between the free world and the Communist world. Let them come to Berlin. There are some who say that communism is the wave of the future. Let them come to Berlin. And there are some who say in Europe and elsewhere we can work with the Communists. Let them come to Berlin. And there are even a few who say that it is true that communism is an evil system, but it permits us to make economic progress. Lass' sic nach Berlin kommen. Let them come to Berlin.

Freedom has many difficulties and democracy is not perfect, but we have never had to put a wall up to keep our people in, to prevent them from leaving us. I want to say, on behalf of my countrymen, who live many miles away on the other side of the Atlantic, who are far distant from you, that they take the greatest pride that they have been able to share with you, even from a distance, the story of the last 18 years. I know of no town, no city, that has been besieged for 18 years that still lives with the vitality and the force, and the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin. While the wall is the most obvious and vivid demonstration of the failures of. the Communist system, for all the world to see, we take no satisfaction in it, for it is, as your Mayor has said, an offense not only against history but an offense against humanity, separating families, dividing husbands and wives and brothers and sisters, and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.

What is true of this city is true of Germany—real, lasting peace in Europe can never be assured as long as one German out of four is denied the elementary right of free men, and that is to make a free choice. In 18 years of peace and good faith, this generation of Germans has earned the right to be free, including the right to unite their families and their nation in lasting peace, with good will to all people. You live in a defended island of freedom, but your life is part of the main. So let me ask you, as I close, to lift your eyes beyond the dangers of today, to the hopes of tomorrow, beyond the freedom merely of this city of Berlin, or your country of Germany, to the advance of freedom everywhere, beyond the wall to the day of peace with justice, beyond yourselves and ourselves to all mankind.

Freedom is indivisible, and when one man is enslaved, all are not free. When all are free, then we can look forward to that day when this city will be joined as one and this country and this great Continent of Europe in a peaceful and hopeful globe. When that day finally comes, as it will, the people of West Berlin can take sober satisfaction in the fact that they were in the front lines for almost two decades.

All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and, therefore, as a free man, I take pride in the words "Ich bin ein Berliner!"
- I am a Berliner.
- Long live communism in Berlin.
- The world must be like Berlin.
- There is no freedom in Berlin.
A: I am a Berliner.

Q: What is the topic of the following essay question?

There are approximately 75 million pet dogs and 90 million pet cats in the United States. What do you think are the most important elements of being a responsible pet owner?
- responsible pet ownership
- the high number of pets in the United States
- Americans' preference for cats over dogs
- the necessity of getting pets spayed and neutered
A: responsible pet ownership

Q: Which of the following ideas would be the most appropriate one to add while creating an idea list about how to eat healthier during a busy day?
- simple, fast, and healthy snack choices
- the high rate of obesity in America
- the profits of fast food companies
- the nutritional needs of children compared to those of adults
A: simple, fast, and healthy snack choices

Q: Which of the following details is not pertinent in an essay addressing the costs of raising children?
- the number of children in the US compared with China
- the high cost of daycare
- family health insurance plans
- the expenses associated with sending a child to school
A: the number of children in the US compared with China

Q: What is the topic of the following essay question?

America is becoming a more diverse place every day. What are some things communities can do to encourage people to get along with people of different backgrounds?
- developing tolerance in neighborhoods
- the history of race relations
- racism and exclusion in America
- immigration and diversity in America
A: developing tolerance in neighborhoods

Q: Which of the following details does not belong in an essay on success in the workplace?
- the importance of having good health care
- the importance of maintaining a collegial demeanor
- the importance of meeting deadlines
- the importance of dressing appropriately
A: the importance of having good health care

Q: What would be the best pattern for organizing an essay on the topic: How do you construct a healthy dinner?
- time order
- order of importance
- cause and effect
- comparison and contrast
A: time order

Q: What would be the best pattern for organizing an essay on the topic: does the manufacturing or health care sector offer the best career options?
- comparison and contrast
- time order
- order of importance
- cause and effect
A: comparison and contrast

Q: Which of the following sentence could be an effect in an essay about why you should get preventative health care?
- Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from diseases that could have been caught and treated earlier.
- Health insurance can be purchased using subsidies from the federal government.
- It is important to develop a relationship with a primary care physician.
- Maintaining a record of vaccinations is an important element in preventing disease.
A: Tens of thousands of Americans die each year from diseases that could have been caught and treated earlier.

Q: Listing steps in a process would most likely be a part of what type of essay?
- time order
- order of importance
- cause and effect
- comparison and contrast
A: time order

Q: What is the best method for organizing your ideas for an essay involving comparison and contrast?
- making a chart
- idea mapping
- circling
- the scatter-shot approach
A: making a chart

Q: Based on the passage below, what can you infer about the author?

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has rightly received some negative attention in recent months as the Obama Administration pushes for its ratification and implementation. Creating a race to the bottom, the provisions of the partnership – negotiated largely in secret over the last decade and a half by a dozen nations – will certainly have a negative impact on the availability of jobs and the wages and benefits of workers across the nation and, especially, in the manufacturing sector here in Central Illinois. But it is also important for us to recognize the local, national, and global environmental harm that will come from this agreement if Congress should ratify the treaty.

For starters, there are very few environmental protections included in the treaty. And, even those that are included are only suggestions, unenforceable because there is no mechanism to sanction violators and no penalties for infringements. Moreover, while companies doing business in the United States will be forced to live up to our tougher regulations those doing business in other signatory nations might not be held to such standards, encouraging corporations to increase pollution and ecological devastation without cost while moving more operations, jobs, and tax revenues overseas.

Even more detrimental, the Trans-Pacific Partnership would put up stumbling blocks to developing new local, state, and federal environmental, safety, and other regulations that American voters and legislators deem necessary. The treaty would subject such future protections to a cost-benefit analysis that is stacked in favor of multinational corporations and against citizens of the United States and other individuals around the world. In fact, international corporations would be able to sue governments at all levels for unlimited cash compensation in international tribunals outside of US judicial oversight for any law, policy, or regulation that the corporations believe infringe on their ability to make profits.

International cooperation can be a wonderful thing that can help protect peace and security for America and the world. International partnerships are also necessary to solve some of the most pressing environmental catastrophes that we face today including global warming, mass extinction, and ocean acidification. Likewise, treaties and trade pacts, when designed with people rather than corporate profits in mind, can protect jobs, increase benefits, and ensure safety for all workers. But, sadly, the Trans-Pacific Partnership furthers none of these laudatory goals. Instead, it will open the way for the degradation of resources and ecosystems that will increase global insecurity, harm the health of all the world’s people, and threaten global economic ruin. For the sake of the environment, the world’s people, and our own economic interests, we must reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- The author is an American citizen and resident of Central Illinois.
- The author is an enemy of the Obama Administration.
- The author is a member of a low-income and polluted community.
- The author is a corporate lawyer.
A: The author is an American citizen and resident of Central Illinois.

Q: Based on the passage below, what would not be an outcome of the Trans-Pacific Partnership?

The Trans-Pacific Partnership has rightly received some negative attention in recent months as the Obama Administration pushes for its ratification and implementation. Creating a race to the bottom, the provisions of the partnership – negotiated largely in secret over the last decade and a half by a dozen nations – will certainly have a negative impact on the availability of jobs and the wages and benefits of workers across the nation and, especially, in the manufacturing sector here in Central Illinois. But it is also important for us to recognize the local, national, and global environmental harm that will come from this agreement if Congress should ratify the treaty.

For starters, there are very few environmental protections included in the treaty. And, even those that are included are only suggestions, unenforceable because there is no mechanism to sanction violators and no penalties for infringements. Moreover, while companies doing business in the United States will be forced to live up to our tougher regulations those doing business in other signatory nations might not be held to such standards, encouraging corporations to increase pollution and ecological devastation without cost while moving more operations, jobs, and tax revenues overseas.

Even more detrimental, the Trans-Pacific Partnership would put up stumbling blocks to developing new local, state, and federal environmental, safety, and other regulations that American voters and legislators deem necessary. The treaty would subject such future protections to a cost-benefit analysis that is stacked in favor of multinational corporations and against citizens of the United States and other individuals around the world. In fact, international corporations would be able to sue governments at all levels for unlimited cash compensation in international tribunals outside of US judicial oversight for any law, policy, or regulation that the corporations believe infringe on their ability to make profits.

International cooperation can be a wonderful thing that can help protect peace and security for America and the world. International partnerships are also necessary to solve some of the most pressing environmental catastrophes that we face today including global warming, mass extinction, and ocean acidification. Likewise, treaties and trade pacts, when designed with people rather than corporate profits in mind, can protect jobs, increase benefits, and ensure safety for all workers. But, sadly, the Trans-Pacific Partnership furthers none of these laudatory goals. Instead, it will open the way for the degradation of resources and ecosystems that will increase global insecurity, harm the health of all the world’s people, and threaten global economic ruin. For the sake of the environment, the world’s people, and our own economic interests, we must reject the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
- curtailing global warming, mass extinction, and ocean acidification
- a reduction in the number of manufacturing jobs in Illinois
- making it more difficult to establish new health and safety laws
- a dimunition in the ability of governments to set their own environmental standards
A: curtailing global warming, mass extinction, and ocean acidification

Q: Use the selection below to answer the question at the end.

This selection uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rain Follows the Plow", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Rain follows the plow is the conventional name for a now-discredited theory of climatology that was popular throughout the American West and Australia during the late 19th century. The phrase was employed as a summation of the theory by Charles Dana Wilber:

God speed the plow.... By this wonderful provision, which is only man's mastery over nature, the clouds are dispensing copious rains ... [the plow] is the instrument which separates civilization from savagery; and converts a desert into a farm or garden.... To be more concise, Rain follows the plow.

The basic premise of the theory was that human habitation and agriculture through homesteading effected a permanent change in the climate of arid and semi-arid regions, making these regions more humid. The theory was widely promoted in the 1870s as a justification for the settlement of the Great Plains, a region previously known as the "Great American Desert". It was also used to justify the expansion of wheat growing on marginal land in South Australia during the same period.

According to the theory, increased human settlement in the region and cultivation of soil would result in an increased rainfall over time, rendering the land more fertile and lush as the population increased. As later historical records of rainfall indicated, the theory was based on faulty evidence arising from brief climatological fluctuations that happened to coincide with settlement, an example of the logical fallacy that correlation means causation. The theory was later refuted by climatologists and is now definitively regarded as pure superstition.

Question:

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from the selection?
- Faulty evidence and poor science led to the development of the idea that rain follows the plow.
- Charles Dana Wilber purposefully tricked people into settling on poor farming land.
- Charles Dana Wilber brought the idea that rain follows the plow from the United States to Australia.
- American science in the nineteenth century was entirely based on false premises.
A: Faulty evidence and poor science led to the development of the idea that rain follows the plow.

Q: Use the selection below to answer the question at the end.

This selection uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rain Follows the Plow", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Rain follows the plow is the conventional name for a now-discredited theory of climatology that was popular throughout the American West and Australia during the late 19th century. The phrase was employed as a summation of the theory by Charles Dana Wilber:

"God speed the plow.... By this wonderful provision, which is only man's mastery over nature, the clouds are dispensing copious rains ... [the plow] is the instrument which separates civilization from savagery; and converts a desert into a farm or garden.... To be more concise, Rain follows the plow."

The basic premise of the theory was that human habitation and agriculture through homesteading effected a permanent change in the climate of arid and semi-arid regions, making these regions more humid. The theory was widely promoted in the 1870s as a justification for the settlement of the Great Plains, a region previously known as the "Great American Desert". It was also used to justify the expansion of wheat growing on marginal land in South Australia during the same period.

According to the theory, increased human settlement in the region and cultivation of soil would result in an increased rainfall over time, rendering the land more fertile and lush as the population increased. As later historical records of rainfall indicated, the theory was based on faulty evidence arising from brief climatological fluctuations that happened to coincide with settlement, an example of the logical fallacy that correlation means causation. The theory was later refuted by climatologists and is now definitively regarded as pure superstition.

Question:

Which of the following probably contributed to the spread of the idea that rain follows the plow?
- a brief, unrelated period of elevated rainfall when the first settlers began plowing areas of the Great Plains
- a need for more grain to help alleviate the Irish potato famine
- the fact that Charles Dana Wilber, as president of the United States, first put forth the idea
- the fact that people in two different countries supported the idea
A: a brief, unrelated period of elevated rainfall when the first settlers began plowing areas of the Great Plains

Q: Use the selection below to answer the question at the end.

This selection uses material from the Wikipedia article "Rain Follows the Plow", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Rain follows the plow is the conventional name for a now-discredited theory of climatology that was popular throughout the American West and Australia during the late 19th century. The phrase was employed as a summation of the theory by Charles Dana Wilber:

God speed the plow.... By this wonderful provision, which is only man's mastery over nature, the clouds are dispensing copious rains ... [the plow] is the instrument which separates civilization from savagery; and converts a desert into a farm or garden.... To be more concise, Rain follows the plow.

The basic premise of the theory was that human habitation and agriculture through homesteading effected a permanent change in the climate of arid and semi-arid regions, making these regions more humid. The theory was widely promoted in the 1870s as a justification for the settlement of the Great Plains, a region previously known as the "Great American Desert". It was also used to justify the expansion of wheat growing on marginal land in South Australia during the same period.

According to the theory, increased human settlement in the region and cultivation of soil would result in an increased rainfall over time, rendering the land more fertile and lush as the population increased. As later historical records of rainfall indicated, the theory was based on faulty evidence arising from brief climatological fluctuations that happened to coincide with settlement, an example of the logical fallacy that correlation means causation. The theory was later refuted by climatologists and is now definitively regarded as pure superstition.

Question:

Which of the following is true about the idea that rain follows the plow?
- It is an example of the fact that correlation does not always mean causation.
- It shows that Charles Dana Wilber was a fool and a charlatan.
- It proves that a few years of data is often enough information to support a grand theory.
- It suggests that nineteenth-century Americans suffered from widespread food shortages.
A: It is an example of the fact that correlation does not always mean causation.