Download US History: Proficiency Three

U.S. History: Proficiency Three
Directions:
 On your answer sheet, fill in the circle that corresponds to your answer for the multiple-choice
question.
 Mark only one answer for each question.
 If you do not know the answer, make your best guess.
 Remember to answer ALL parts of the Constructed-Response question.
Multiple Choice
1. An advocate of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s farm policy would have likely supported which
economic strategy?
a. Reducing agricultural output to increase product values
b. Utilizing minimum-wage laws to stimulate farm productivity
c. Allowing market forces to operate freely to achieve stabilization
d. Increasing agricultural production to ensure an affordable food supply
2. In 1927, radio reports of Charles Lindbergh’s successful solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean thrilled
people around the world. Movie newsreels featuring the young, handsome pilot helped make him
an international hero.
What was a larger impact of Lindbergh’s accomplishment?
a. It improved relations between the United States and France.
b. It demonstrated the airplane’s ability to be used as a long-range bomber.
c. It made people realize the United States could not isolate itself from world events.
d. It helped launch the age of commercial passenger aviation.
3. The United States and Russia were World War I allies until 1918, when Russia ended its involvement
in the war. President Wilson responded to this development by sending thousands of combat troops
to Russia. What was the reason for Wilson’s decision?
a. The United States had the opportunity to gain control of disputed territory near Alaska.
b. The United States wanted to ensure Russia repaid millions of dollars in loans.
c. The United States military faced collapse without munitions from Russian factories.
d. The United States needed to prevent war material from falling into enemy hands.
4. The Savoy Ballroom, famous as one of the few places in the 1920s that permitted interracial
dancing, is most closely associated with which movement?
a. Abolitionism
b. Feminism
c. Harlem Renaissance
d. Women’s suffrage
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
5. What was the main consequence of the Senate’s refusal to ratify the Treaty of Versailles?
a. Civil liberties were curtailed during the Red Scare.
b. The League of Nations was greatly weakened.
c. American troops in France and Germany were demoralized.
d. Congress passed the Sedition Act to silence public dissent.
6. Depression-era artists received important sponsorship from what New Deal Agency?
a. The Civil Works Administration
b. The National Recovery Administration
c. The Public Works Administration
d. The Works Progress Administration
7. The conditions of the Treaty of Versailles led to which of the following outcomes?
a. The pursuit of an isolationist U.S. foreign policy
b. The appeal of the philosophy of nonviolent civil disobedience
c. The establishment of communism in the U.S.S.R.
d. The rise of German nationalism and the Third Reich
8. Which generalization best describes the Scopes Trial?
a. A challenge between individual freedom and social conformity.
b. A contest between public and private school philosophies.
c. A conflict between modern science and religion.
d. A clash between state authority and federal power .
9. During World War I, most American soldiers engaged in trench warfare on the western front were
fighting in:
a. England.
b. France.
c. Germany.
d. Russia.
10. Which aspect of World War I is widely considered to be a factor in contributing to the Great
Depression?
a. The unanticipated costs associated with implementing Treaty of Versailles provisions
b. The rapid conversion of factories from consumer goods to war materials
c. The widespread devastation of Europe’s industrial base
d. The collapse of diplomatic and trade relations between the United States and Germany
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
11. Consider this conversation from the 1920s:
“Have you bought an automobile yet?”
“No, we felt we couldn’t afford one.”
“Mr. Budge has one and he is not as well off as you are.”
“Yes, I know. But their second installment came due, and they had no money to pay for it.”
“Did they lose the car?”
“No, they got the money and paid the installment.”
“How did they get the money?”
“They sold the cook-stove.”
“How could they get along without a cook-stove?”
“They didn’t. They bought another one on the installment plan.”
Which factor associated with the 1929 stock market crash does this conversation illustrate?
a. Increasing consumer reliance on credit
b. Federal deregulation of the banking industry
c. Reduced wages and rising unemployment
d. Growing postwar profits in the industrial sector
12. The radio significantly impacted the U.S. society by:
a. transforming attitudes toward gender roles.
b. increasing access to news and entertainment.
c. stimulating greater readership of newspapers.
d. heightening consumer interest in television.
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
Constructed Response—Cimarron County, Oklahoma, Photograph
13. Arthur Rothstein took this photograph in Cimarron County, Oklahoma, in 1936.
Examine the image carefully; then complete the following tasks:
A. Identify the specific historical event captured in this photograph.
B. Explain the environmental and agricultural causes and effects of this event.
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
Please use the space below to write your response(s) to the writing assignment provided by your
teacher. If there are multiple tasks to the question, please clearly label the number or letter of each task
in the column to the left of your answers. If you need additional pages for your response, your teacher
can provide them.
Please write the name of the writing assignment here: _______________________________
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
Answer Key
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
A
D
D
C
B
D
D
C
B
C
A
B
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
Scoring Criteria
13) A. Identify the specific historical event captured in this photograph:
The photograph was taken during the event known as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, which
affected parts of Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Kansas.
B. Explain the environmental and agricultural causes and effects of this event:
Causes: The Dust Bowl was the result of a severe drought combined with lack of crop rotation,
overgrazing, overly deep plowing of topsoil, and a lack of modern erosion techniques. The
profits from the record crops in the southern plains in the late 1920s had led to some of these
bad practices. Then, the resulting loss of natural grasses, coupled with the dry soil, created dust
storms that reached as far east as New York City and Washington, D.C.
Effects: Millions of acres of farmland became barren, and thousands of farmers from Oklahoma
and other states left their homes and moved west to California. In spite of that migration, many
farmers stayed in Oklahoma, as well as other states, and struggled to survive. Those who moved
west often found employment as migrant workers on farms. Many worked for starvation wages,
which are wages below the level needed for subsistence.
Students also may discuss the various relief programs of the New Deal such as the Second
Agricultural Adjustment Act (1938) and the Resettlement Administration (1935) that focused on
aiding farmers in need of assistance.
U.S. History Rubric: Visual Stimulus
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U.S. History: Proficiency Three
3
A response at this level provides evidence of thorough knowledge and understanding of the
subject matter.
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2
A response at this level provides evidence of basic knowledge and understanding of the subject
matter
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1
The response demonstrates incomplete or inconsistent analysis of the prompt topic that
may not support logical conclusions or interpretations.
The response provides some explanation of the prompt topic, using partially correct
content and details that may contain a few errors or misconceptions.
The response adequately conveys knowledge and ideas, but portions of the response may
lack coherence.
A response at this level provides evidence of minimal knowledge and understanding of the
subject matter.
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0
The response demonstrates thoughtful analysis of the prompt topic that effectively
supports logical conclusions or interpretations.
The response provides insightful explanation of the prompt topic, effectively using
accurate content and details with no significant errors or misconceptions.
The response effectively conveys knowledge and ideas.
The response demonstrates little or no analysis of the prompt topic to support logical
conclusions or interpretations.
The response provides little or no explanation of the prompt topic using incorrect and/or
incomplete content/details which contain significant errors or misconceptions.
The response conveys knowledge and ideas in a manner that is unclear and/or impedes
understanding.
A response at this level is not scorable

The response is off-topic, blank, hostile, or otherwise not scorable.
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