Michigan teacher certification Basic Skills Test sample questions

Section 1. Click on what you think is the correct answer for each of the following.

• 1. Which of the following is largest?
  1. 1/4
  2. 3/5
  3. 1/2
  4. 9/20
• 2. A town planning committee must decide how to use a 115-acre piece of land. The committee sets aside 20 acres of the land for watershed protection and an additional 37.4 acres for recreation. How much of the land is set aside for watershed protection and recreation?
  1. 43.15 acres
  2. 54.6 acres
  3. 57.4 acres
  4. 60.4 acres
• 3. Use the graph below to answer the question that follows.
  
  Which of the following is true at time T ?
  1. Both racer A and racer B are running.
  2. Racer A is running and racer B is resting.
  3. Racer B is running and racer A is resting.
  4. Both racer A and racer B are resting.
• 4. The sum of the three angles of a triangle is 180 degrees. The second angle is 20 degrees larger than the first angle. The third angle is twice the measure of the first angle. If n represents the number of degrees in the smallest angle, which equation correctly represents the relationship among the three angles?
  1. n+(n–20) + 2n = 180
  2. n+(n+20) + 2n = 180
  3. n+(n–20) + 2(n – 20) = 180
  4. n+(n+20) + 2(n + 20) = 180
• 5. Bess, Tara, Gerard, and Clifton all work for the same company. One is a writer, one a researcher, one an artist, and one an engineer. Use the statements below to answer the question that follows.
  • Bess and Gerard eat lunch with the engineer.
  • Clifton and Tara carpool with the researcher.
  • Gerard works in the same building as the writer and researcher.

  Who is the researcher?

  1. Tara
  2. Bess
  3. Clifton
  4. Gerard

The road to civil rights

1   The period immediately following the Civil War was a time of great hope for African Americans. It was also a time of momentous constitutional change, as the nation sought to extend those liberties enshrined in the Bill of Rights to all Americans, Black and White. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed all citizens equal protection of the laws, and the Fifteenth Amendment declared that no one could be denied the right to vote "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." In subsequent decades, however, it became all too apparent, at least to African Americans and an unfortunately small number of concerned White Americans, that the prom- ises contained in these amendments were not being honored. By century's end, racial segregation was still an inescapable fact of American social life, in the North as well as the South. At the same time, most southern states had adopted devices such as the poll tax, literacy test, and White primary to strip African Americans of their right to vote.

2   The struggle to close the gap between constitutional promise and social reality would pass through two important stages. In the first stage, organizations such as the NAACP worked through the courts to restore the meaning of the Reconstruction-era amendments. These efforts culminated in the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which outlawed segregation in public schools. The decision also stated that separate facilities were inherently unequal, thus providing a legal basis for subsequent suits to desegregate other kinds of public accommodations.

3   As it turned out, the principles enunciated in the Brown decision were more easily stated than enforced. Court orders to desegregate public schools often encountered massive resistance. Seeing this, African Americans and their supporters began to adopt new tactics. As they did, the struggle for African American rights entered its second stage, a stage that would be characterized by direct action rather than legal challenges and would be played out in the streets rather than the courts. In turning to civil disobedience, lead- ers such as Martin Luther King, Jr., made it possible for all victims of racial injustice to take action in a way that was direct and forceful, but also peaceable. And through the power of their moral example, they soon won widespread support for their cause. In response to these developments, Congress took steps to restore the full meaning of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

4   The enactment of these measures by no means marked the end of the civil rights movement. There was still much to be done. Yet the passage of these acts nevertheless had far-reaching significance. The acts not only helped correct social inequities that had persisted far too long, they also showed that the Constitution means something, however long it may sometimes take to give substance to that meaning. This is no small matter in a nation of laws.

Click on what you think is the correct answer below.

• 7. Which of the following best defines the word culminated as it is used in paragraph 2 of the selection?
  1. initiated a lengthy process
  2. completed the initial phase of a project
  3. began a period of decline
  4. reached the highest point of achievement
• 8. Which of the following statements from the selection best expresses the main idea of the first paragraph?
  1. The period immediately following the Civil War was a time of great hope for African Americans.
  2. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed all citizens equal protection of the laws, and the Fifteenth Amendment declared that no one could be denied the right to vote "on account of race, color, or pre- vious condition of servitude."
  3. In subsequent decades, it became all too apparent, at least to African Americans and an unfortunately small number of concerned White Americans, that the promises contained in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were not being honored.
  4. Most southern states had adopted devices such as the poll tax, literacy test, and White primary to strip African Americans of their right to vote.
• 9. The content of paragraph 3 indicates the writer's belief that
  1. The first stage of the civil rights movement was a failure.
  2. Supreme Court decisions have less influence on U.S. society than Congressional actions.
  3. social movements are able to influence the political process.
  4. the costs of civil disobedience sometimes outweigh its benefits.
• 10. According to the selection, many communities refused to enforce the Brown decision. African Americans and their supporters tried to overcome this problem by:
  1. Demanding that Congress pass additional civil rights legislation.
  2. engaging in nonviolent direct action.
  3. selecting new leaders for the civil rights movement.
  4. requesting the assistance of the Supreme Court.
• 11. Which of the following assumptions most influenced the views expressed by the writer in this selection?
  1. Nations that profess a belief in the rule of law should ensure that all laws are observed.
  2. Social injustice can be eliminated most effectively through amendments to the Constitution.
  3. As a rule, people must be forcibly compelled to respect the rights of others.
  4. Without forceful leaders, social movements are unlikely to gain broad support.
• 12. Which of the following statements best summarizes the information presented in the selection?
  1. After the Civil War, the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were adopted to protect and extend the rights of African Americans. By century's end, however, racial segregation was still an inescapable fact of American social life. It would remain so until the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, which called for the full desegregation of all kinds of public accommodations.
  2. During the past century, there have been significant changes in the leadership of the civil rights movement. Organizations such as the NAACP spearheaded the initial phase of the struggle for African American rights. As legal action gave way to direct action, however, leadership came primarily from individuals like Martin Luther King, Jr.
  3. Adopted immediately after the Civil War, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed African Americans equal protection of the laws, and the Fifteenth Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote. African Americans and their supporters have long struggled to give meaning to these amendments.
  4. Efforts by African Americans and their supporters to close the gap between the constitutional promises of the Reconstruction-era amendments and the realities of American social life passed through two important stages. The first stage, which focused on legal action, culminated in the Brown decision of 1954. This stage was followed by a direct action phase that resulted in the passage of the civil rights acts of the sixties.