SSAT Reading Comprehension Practice Test 2

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Question 1 of 7

1. Question

Read the following passage and answer the question

In this passage a Mexican American historian describes a technique she used as part of her research.

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

The author’s comments in the third paragraph (lines 36-56) suggest that her research project resembles more conventional research in its

a. attention to the details of everyday life in certain communities
b. use of written public materials as a starting point
c. adoption of family memories of past events as data
d. reliance on church and state records to test new theories
e. assumption that conventional sources are accurate but incomplete

Correct

Incorrect

Question 2 of 7

2. Question

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

In what sense are “census reports, church records, directories” (line 38) inadequate?

a. They place too great a reliance on political factors.
b. They blur the distinction between the political and the religious realm.
c. They are not of sufficient accuracy to be of use to historians.
d. They do not tell the human side of the story.
e. They are often too difficult to obtain.

Correct

Incorrect

Question 3 of 7

3. Question

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

The “gap” referred to in line 43 can best be described as the distance between the

a. politically motivated view of reality and the personally motivated view of reality
b. abundance of concrete facts and the shortage of scholarly interpretation of them
c. pictures presented by traditional historical sources and by subjective personal accounts
d. information contained in libraries and the information that has been lost
e. story of one person and the history of a nation as a whole

Correct

Incorrect

Question 4 of 7

4. Question

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

In line 59, “place” most nearly means

a. home
b. duty
c. role
d. appropriate moment
e. geographical location

Correct

Incorrect

Question 5 of 7

5. Question

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

What is the effect of the question in lines 59-62?

a. It suggests that sharing ethnicity and language might not be enough to make one an insider.
b. It eliminates the distinction between insider and outsider.
c. It refutes the claim that being an outsider is an important criterion for doing research.
d. It suggests that only those with an outsider's perspective can see things objectively.
e. It suggests that human sympathy is more important than ethnicity or language.

Correct

Incorrect

Question 6 of 7

6. Question

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

Which statement most accurately presents the author’s sense of the relationship between the “spoken word” (line 64) and the “theories and models of the social sciences” (lines 64-65)?

a. Theories and models must come first in order to make sense of the spoken word.
b. The spoken word makes general theories and models unnecessary.
c. Theories and models cannot account for quantitative data as well as the spoken word can.
d. The spoken word is more likely to introduce errors into the historical record than are theories and models.
e. The spoken word can yield greater insight than presently accepted theories and models can.

Correct

Incorrect

Question 7 of 7

7. Question

	Doña Teodora offered me yet another cup of strong,
	black coffee. The aroma of the big, paper-thin Sonoran
	tortillas filled the small, linoleum-covered kitchen, and I
Line	knew that with the coffee I would receive a buttered tortilla
5	straight from the round, homemade comal (a flat, earthen-
	ware cooking pan) balanced on the gas-burning stove. For
	three days, from ten in the morning until early evening, I
	had been sitting in the same comfortable wooden chair,
	taking cup after cup of black coffee and consuming hot
10	tortillas. Doña Teodora was ninety years old, and although
	she would take occasional breaks from patting, extending,
	and turning over tortillas to let her cat in or out, it appeared
	that I was the only one exhausted at the end of the day. But
	once out, as I went over the notes, filed and organized the
15	tape cassettes, exhilaration would set in. The intellectual
	and emotional excitement I had previously experienced
	when a pertinent document would suddenly appear now
	waned in comparison to the gestures and words, the joy
	and anger doña Teodora offered.

20	She had not written down her thoughts; but the ideas,
	recollections, and images evoked by her lively oral expres-
	sion were jewels for anyone who wanted to know about the
	life of Mexicanas ^* in booming mining towns on both sides
	of the Mexico-United States border in the early twentieth
25	century. She never kept a diary. The thought of writing a
	memoir would have been put aside as presumptuous. But
	all her life doña Teodora had lived amidst the telling and
	retelling of family stories. Genealogies of her own family
	as well as complete and up-to-date information of the
30	marriages, births, and deaths of numerous families that
	made up her community were all well-kept memories.
	These chains of generations were fleshed out with recollec-
	tions of the many events and tribulations of these families.
	Oral history had proven to be a fertile field for my research
35	on the history of Mexicanas.

	My search had begun in libraries and archives—reposi-
	tories of conventional history. The available sources were
	to be found in census reports, church records, directories,
	and other such statistical information. These, however, as
40	important as they are, cannot provide one of the essential
	dimensions of history, the full narrative of the human
	experience that defies quantification and classification. In
	certain social groups this gap can be filled with diaries,
	memoirs, letters, or even reports from others. In the case of
45	Mexicanas in the United States, one of the many devastating
	consequences of defeat and conquest has been that the
	traditional institutions that preserve and transfer culture
	(the documentation of the past) have ignored these personal
	written sources. The letters, writings, and documents of
50	Mexican people have rarely, if ever, been included in
	archives, special collections, or libraries. At best, some
	centers have attempted to collect newspapers published by
	Mexicans, but the effort was started late. The historian who
	tries to reconstruct the past from newspapers is constantly
55	frustrated because, although titles abound, collections are
	scarce and often incomplete.

	Although many hours of previous study and preparation
	had taken me to doña Teodora’s kitchen, I was initially
	unsure of my place. Was I really an insider or were the
60	experiences that had made the lives of my interviewees
	such that, although I could speak Spanish and am Mexicana,
	I was still an outsider?

	I realized, nonetheless, that the richness and depth of the
	spoken word challenges the comforting theories and models
65	of the social sciences. Mexican history challenges social-
	science models derived solely from victorious imperialistic
	experiences.

	Our history cannot be written without new sources.
	These sources will determine which concepts are needed to
70	illuminate and interpret the past, and these concepts will
	emerge from the people themselves. This will permit the
	description of events and structures to assume a culturally
	relevant perspective, thus emphasizing the point of view of
	the Mexican people. The use of theoretical constructs must
75	follow the voices of the people who live the reality, con-
	sciously or not. For too long the experiences of women
	have been studied according to male-oriented sources and
	constructs. These must be questioned. For the history of
	Mexican people, the sources primarily exist in our own
80	worlds. And it is here where we must begin. I often found
	that as the memory awakened, other sources would emerge.
	Boxes of letters, photographs, and even manuscripts and
	diaries would appear. Long-standing assumptions of
	illiteracy were shattered and had to be reexamined. I saw
85	that constant reevaluation became the rule rather than the
	exception. I entered women’s worlds created on the margin
	—not only of Anglo life, but of, and outside of, the lives
	of their own fathers, husbands, sons, brothers, or priests,
	bosses, and bureaucrats.

The author indicates that the “concepts” mentioned in lines 69-70 originate in

a. informal records and information provided by ordinary people
b. comments of senior members of a community on the ways the community has functioned
c. patterns of social behavior that have been exhibited by previously studied cultures
d. personal experiences of historians who have interviewed many people
e. systematic categories devised by historians for various types of sources

Correct

Incorrect