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Reading Passage 3: History with Graph
Practice for the New SAT (2016)
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Problem Set 3: 11 Questions
Reading: Social Science/History Passage with Graph
voted against them, and every amendment failed. Before the
Questions 23-33 are based on the following passage.
40 bill was passed, it was predicted that three-fourths of the
The following passage is adapted from a 1907 book on the
political technique known as “gerrymandering.”
Line 5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Gerrymandering is the practice of altering electoral district
boundaries with the intent to create partisan advantage in
elections, and the term “gerrymander” is also sometimes used
to refer to the districts themselves. While examples of what is
now called gerrymandering stretch back nearly to the
founding of the United States, and even before the first US
Congress was formed in 1789, the term was only coined in the
19th century, to describe the redistricting of Massachusetts
under Governor Elbridge Gerry.
In 1811, the leading political parties were the Federalists
and the Democratic-Republicans, or simply the Republicans.
The Republicans, for only the second time in the history of
the state, gained control of all branches of the Massachusetts
state government. Massachusetts was normally Federalist and
the Republican Party then in the ascendency cast about for a
way of retaining its unusual power. The method decided upon
was that of redistricting the state to its own advantage. It was
highly essential that the state Senate remain Republican, both
for the purposes of state legislation and also to aid in electing
Republican Senators to Congress. To this end the state was
divided into eighteen districts, which among them would elect
forty state Senators.
In each district, Senators would be elected by a simple
majority. And because it was known which of the existing
districts more strongly favored one party or another, it was
possible to create certain advantages by redrawing them.
Because only a slim majority was needed to win any district
and elect its Senators, the district map could be rearranged so
that Republicans would win a slim majority of the vote in a
large number of districts, and the Federalists could have large
majorities but in only a small number of districts. This would
ensure that Republicans could win a majority of districts and
elect a majority of Senators even if a majority of voters
favored Federalist candidates.
The Federalists were not unaware of the intention of this
districting bill, and offered various amendments in an attempt
to resolve the inequalities created by the bill. Every Federalist
voted for every one of the amendments, and every Republican
45
50
55
60
65
Senate would, as a result of the redistricting, belong to one
party—although the people of the state were evenly divided.
The House passed the measure by a vote of 278 to 231.
The minority in the House signed a protest against the law;
the number of signatures amounted to 224. People in
conventions throughout the state drew up and passed
resolutions denouncing the measure soon after its passage.
Editorials were run in newspapers, and Governor Eldridge
Gerry was harshly criticized. One of the districts was so
contorted that it was said to resemble a salamander, and the
word “gerrymander” (a portmanteau of Governor Eldridge
Gerry’s last name and the word “salamander”) was used for
the first time in the Boston Gazette on 26 March, 1812 to
describe the district. Although there were a variety of protests
and petitions, the redistricting law stood, and in the following
election the results were clear.
Of 101,390 votes for Senators, Federalists received 51,766
votes and Republican received 50,164. But of 40 Senators
elected by the state, 29 were Republican and only 11 were
Federalist. The vote for Governor at the same election was
52,696 for Strong, the Federalist candidate, and 51,326 for
Gerry, resulting in a Federalist win. Likewise, the elections
for the US House of Representatives were won mostly by
Federalists. The state as a whole was decidedly Federalist,
and yet the majority of its state Senators were Republican.
This instance of gerrymandering, presided over by its
namesake, was one of the most successful on record.
STATE SENATE ELECTIONS
Federalists
Republicans
Overall Vote Count
Senators Elected
The above graph shows the proportion of total votes for
each party’s Senate candidates in the 1812 election, and
shows the proportion of total Senators elected by each
party.
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4.
GUBERNATORIAL AND US HOUSE ELECTIONS
Federalists
(A) Gerrymandering is used to create an advantage for
one party over another in elections.
(B) The term “gerrymandering” can refer to any unfair
strategy for winning elections.
(C) Federalists understood the purpose of Republican
gerrymandering before the election of 1812.
(D) Gerrymandering had occurred even before the
Republican redistricting of Massachusetts.
Republicans
Gubernatorial Vote Count
Representatives Elected
The above graph shows the share of votes won by each
The above graph shows the share of votes won by each
party’s gubernatorial candidate, as well as the number of
party’s gubernatorial candidate, as well as the number of
Representatives elected by each party to the US House.
Representatives elected by each party to the US House.
1.
2.
Based on information in the passage and graphs, we can
conclude that
(A) Federalists used gerrymandering to secure more
seats in the US House of Representatives.
(B) the overall number of votes for the Federalist
gubernatorial candidate was higher than the number
of votes for all candidates for the US House of
Representatives.
(C) Republican gerrymandering did not have the same
impact on gubernatorial and U.S. House elections as
on the state Senate elections.
(D) Federalists were even more successful in their own
gerrymandering efforts than the republicans had
been.
As it is used in line 16, “retaining” most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
6.
absorbing.
maintaining.
remembering.
employing.
Which choice best summarizes paragraphs 4-5?
(A) Republicans were able to pass the redistricting bill in
spite of Federalist protests.
(B) Federalists were at first unaware of the purpose of
the redistricting bill, but soon began to protest it.
(C) Although Federalists resisted, Republicans were able
to gain control of Massachusetts government.
(D) Federalists fiercely opposed Republican redistricting
efforts.
Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer
to the previous question?
(A) Lines 4-9 (“While examples … Elbridge Gerry.”)
(B) Lines 14-16 (“Massachusetts was … unusual
power.”)
(C) Lines 36-38 (“The Federalists … the bill.”)
(D) Lines 49-51 (“Editorials were …harshly criticized.”)
3.
5.
The passage most strongly suggests that Governor
Eldridge Gerry was
(A) powerless to prevent the Republicans from passing a
redistricting bill which would ultimately cost them
victory in the 1812 election.
(B) the person most responsible for the first known
example of redistricting for political advantage.
(C) personally blamed in newspaper editorials for the
redistricting bill passed by his party.
(D) only able to win the 1812 election because of the
advantage created by gerrymandering.
Which of the following claims about gerrymandering is
NOT made in the passage?
7.
As it is used in line 38, “resolve” most nearly means
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
8.
rectify.
divide.
determine.
vote.
The main rhetorical effect of the repetition of the word
“every” in lines 38-40(“Every Federalist … ever
Republican … every amendment”) is to
(A) show how every member of the government
contributed something to the redistricting bill.
(B) convey the absolute party division in the state
government, and the total control enjoyed by the
Republicans.
(C) contrast the strong position of the Federalists with
the traditionally weak position of the Republicans.
(D) highlight the unanimous agreement of both parties
on the importance of the amendments.
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9.
The prediction in lines 40-43 serves to show that
(A) the intention and likely effects of the redistricting
bill were clear even before the election.
(B) Federalists had greatly exaggerated the likely effects
of the redistricting proposal.
(C) even without gerrymandering, election results can
still be skewed by other factors.
(D) the Massachusetts Republicans had successfully
concealed the likely effects of the redistricting bill
from the Federalists.
10. The election of 1812 is most likely characterized as a
“successful” example of gerrymandering because
(A) it was in 1812 that the term “gerrymandering” was
first used.
(B) the proportion of Senate seats won by Republicans
was much greater than the proportion of overall
votes for Republican Senators.
(C) Eldridge Gerry lost the gubernatorial election, in
spite of his efforts to gain an advantage by
gerrymandering.
(D) the districts created in the 1812 election were some
of the most unusually shaped districts ever created
by redistricting.
11. What is the main evidence offered in this passage for the
claim that “the state as a whole was decidedly Federalist”
(line 65)?
(A) Harsh editorials in newspapers strongly criticized
the Republican governor, and favored the Federalist
position.
(B) Republicans were in control of the Massachusetts
state government for only the second time in history.
(C) The gubernatorial election, US House elections, and
the total vote count in the State Senate elections all
favored Federalists.
(D) The redistricting bill had passed the House with the
unanimous support of the majority party.
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Summary
11 Questions
638 Word Passage
Passage Complexity: College-ready Reading Level
Social Science / History
Estimated Time: 13 minutes
Answers
Answers
Topic
Other Topics
1) C
Information and Ideas
Implicit Meaning
2) D
Information and Ideas
Citing Textual Evidence
3) C
Synthesis
Quantitative Information
4) B
Rhetoric
Analyzing Claims
5) B
Information and Ideas
Words in Context
6) A
Information and Ideas
Summarizing
7) A
Information and Ideas
Words in Context
8) B
Rhetoric
Word Choice
9) A
Rhetoric
Analyzing Purpose
10) B
Information and Ideas
Implicit Meaning
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11) C
Rhetoric
Analyzing Evidence