Note: short passages need to be done differently. Low skill level passages less than 85 lines should be read slowly.
Tammany Hall was the name given to the Democratic Party political machine
that dominated New York City politics from 1854 through 1934. That eighty-year
period marks the time in which Tammany was the city's driving political
force.
Tammany is forever linked with the rise of the Irish in American politics.
Beginning in 1846, Irish immigrants fleeing the great Irish famine began
arriving in New York. Equipped with a knowledge of English and what some
have called a genius for politics, the Irish quickly assumed a key role
within Tammany. Viewing politics as a path out of poverty, they found in
Tammany an ally in the struggle to survive the hellish conditions of New
York slums. In exchange for jobs, loans, turkeys at Christmas and other
favors, they provided organizational skills, governing capacity and their
votes on election day. The Irish would come to dominate Tammany, supplying
its leaders from 1872 through 1924.
By 1854 Tammany's lineage and support from immigrants had combined to make
it a powerful force in New York politics. In that year, the Society elected
its first New York City mayor. As its power grew, Tammany's "bosses",
called the Grand Sachem, and their supporters enriched themselves through
means legal and illegal. Perhaps the most famous boss of all was William
M. "Boss" Tweed. Though not Irish himself, Tweed was elected with
the support of Irish immigrants. His outsized personality projected through
his 300 pound frame and gargantuan appetites--he was famous for devouring
steaks and oysters by the plateful at Delmonico's--made him a colorful if
controversial figure. His infamously corrupt reign was brazen enough to
incite an attempt at reform in the early 1870s. Rutherford B. Hayes's involvement
in this effort contributed to his success in the election of 1876. New York
minister Charles Henry Parkhurst publicly denounced the Hall in 1892, which
led to a Grand Jury investigation, the appointment of the Lexow Committee
and the election of a reform mayor in 1894.
1. The author is primarily concerned with which of the following?
(A) The plight of Irish immigrants in New York City
(B) An important time in the history of democracy
(C) A venue in which the Irish joined the political arena
(D) Corruption in New York City politics
(E) New York City politics and how they differ from those of other cities
2. According to the passage, the Irish joined Tammany because:
I. They felt comfortable around other immigrants
II. Tammany helped the Irish meet their basic needs
III. Tammany provided the Irish with organizational skills
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III
3. We can infer from the passage that:
(A) The Irish continued to dominate Tammany after 1924
(B) Tammany helped the Irish in order to gain political power
(C) The Irish immigrants learned to be politically savvy in Ireland
(D) Tammany was located near the slums in which the Irish lived
(E) Immigrant groups which were unfamiliar with English were not involved in
politics of New York City
4. The tone of the passage is:
(A) Indignant
(B) Skeptical
(C) Objective
(D) Optimistic
(E) Reverent
5. What does the author mean by “His infamously corrupt regime was brazen
enough to incite an attempt at reform” as used in the last paragraph?
(A) Tweed was a bold mayor who called for reform among New York City government.
(B) Tweed was a corrupt mayor and did his best to keep this out of the public
eye. However, he was unsuccessful.
(C) Tweed did much to help immigrants even though he was a corrupt leader.
(D) Tweed's corruption was so noticeable that other city officials decided to
take control of the situation.
(E) Tweed chose to make boldly reform Tammany during his mayorship.
6. The author's primary objective in writing the passage is to:
(A) Honor the great bosses of Tammany.
(B) Defend Tammany's political influence.
(C) Criticize political corruption.
(D) Present a new theory about immigrant self-empowerment.
(E) Illuminate a time in the history of politics.
Answer Explanations:
1. The author is primarily concerned with which of the following?
(A) The plight of Irish immigrants in New York City
(B) An important time in the history of democracy
(C) A venue in which the Irish joined the political arena
(D) Corruption in New York City politics
(E) New York City politics and how they differ from those of other cities
Type: Main Idea
(C) is correct because it addresses the passage's topic (Tammany) and scope
(Irish involvement). (A) is incorrect because it only mentions the Irish and
not Tammany. (B) is too vague. (D) is only mentioned in the last paragraph.
(E) is incorrect because the passage never discusses the politics of a city
other than New York. (300)
2. According to the passage, the Irish joined Tammany because:
I. They felt comfortable around other immigrants
II. Tammany helped the Irish meet their basic needs
III. Tammany provided the Irish with organizational skills
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and III only
(E) I, II, and III
Type: Detail of the passage
(B). Statement I is incorrect because it is never mentioned in the passage. II is a rephrasing
of the line "In exchange for jobs, loans, turkeys at Christmas and
other favors, they provided organizational skills, governing capacity and their
votes on election day." III misconstrues the meaning of the aforementioned
line which refers to the Irish providing Tammany with organizational skills,
not the other way around. (400)
3. We can infer from the passage that:
(A) The Irish continued to dominate Tammany after 1924
(B) Tammany helped the Irish in order to gain political power
(C) The Irish immigrants learned to be politically savvy in Ireland
(D) Tammany was located near the slums in which the Irish lived
(E) Immigrant groups which were unfamiliar with English were not involved in
politics of New York City
Type: Inference
(B). All answer choices besides (B) have no inferential basis. One cannot assume
based on the passage that (A) the Irish dominated Tammany after 1924, when nothing
of the kind is mentioned and the line "The Irish would come to dominate
Tammany, supplying its leaders from 1872 through 1924" seems to indicate
the opposite. There is no basis for (C) or (E). The only time that either Irish
political savviness or English language are mentioned is the line "All
we know is that the Irish "Equipped with a knowledge of English and what
some have called a genius for politics, the Irish quickly assumed a key role
within Tammany." Being provided with only this information, we cannot
conclude either answer choice. (D) does not appear in the passage in any way.
(300)
4. The tone of the passage is:
(A) Indignant
(B) Skeptical
(C) Objective
(D) Optimistic
(E) Reverent
Type: Tone
(C). The author is not very opinioned in this passage. He or she simply tells
the story of Tammany and provides related information on who was involved with
it. Therefore, the tone of the passage is objective. The author does not pass
judgment on the corruption, and is not negative in tone, so (A) and (B) are
incorrect. The author also does not use language that is positive, so (D) is
wrong, and (E) too. Reverent is an extreme choice. It would be hard to describe
a corrupt political organization with reverence. (500)
5. What does the author mean by “His infamously corrupt regime was brazen
enough to incite an attempt at reform” as used in the last paragraph?
(A) Tweed was a bold mayor who called for reform among New York City government.
(B) Tweed was a corrupt mayor and did his best to keep this out of the public
eye. However, he was unsuccessful.
(C) Tweed did much to help immigrants even though he was a corrupt leader.
(D) Tweed's corruption was so noticeable that other city officials decided to
take control of the situation.
(E) Tweed chose to make boldly reform Tammany during his mayorship.
Type: Definition of a word of phrase
(D). The sentence explains that Tweed's regime, which includes both Tweed himself
and his administration, was corrupt, and so brazen (bold) in its corruption,
that his regime incited (brought about) attempts at government reform. (A) misconstrues
the sentence to mean that Tweed called for the reform, when, in fact, others
called for it to be made upon him. (B) is partially correct, but does not go
far enough. (C) is true but does not provide the correct meaning of the particular
sentence in question. (E), like (A) misconstrues the sentence's wording. (600)
6. The author's primary objective in writing the passage is to:
(A) Honor the great bosses of Tammany.
(B) Defend Tammany's political influence.
(C) Criticize political corruption.
(D) Present a new theory about immigrant self-empowerment.
(E) Illuminate a time in the history of politics.
Type: Purpose of the passage
(E). As we found in question 4, this passage is quite objective. Therefore the
purpose of the passage cannot relate to the author's opinion. Thus, (B) and
(C) are wrong. The author never argues for or against Tammany. (A) is more subtle,
but still requires author opinion to be correct. In order for the author's objective
to be to honor Tammany's bosses, the author would have to praise them somewhere
in the passage, and he or she does not do so. (D) does not contain opinion,
but it is incorrect because there is no theory presented in the passage. It
is simply a short historical piece, detailing Tammany's major figures and Irish
involvement. (700)
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