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Reading Comprehension Quiz (Terry Tempest Williams, “The Clan of One-Breasted Women”)

Reading Comprehension Quiz

Terry Tempest Williams, “The Clan of One-Breasted Women”

Read “The Clan of One-Breasted Women” and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Click the submit button when finished.

Question Why does Williams mention her religion at the beginning of this essay?

1. Why does Williams mention her religion at the beginning of this essay?

Williams is writing from a spiritual standpoint, and she needs to mention her religion to establish her religious expertise.

Because cancer is sometimes linked to diet and habits that Mormons don’t partake in, it provides background so that the reader can understand why the cancer in her family is so mysterious.

Cancer is a common occurrence among people of the Mormon faith, so it helps create a background for Williams’s essay.

Williams is a spokesperson for her religion, and this is a way for her to spread her beliefs.

Question What was the flash of light that Williams dreamt about?

2. What was the flash of light that Williams dreamt about?

a vision of God in the desert

an oil tanker exploding in front of the family car

the lights of Las Vegas glowing in the distance

an atomic bomb exploding

Question Why was the United States government conducting above-ground nuclear tests?

3. Why was the United States government conducting above-ground nuclear tests?

It was the Cold War and the U.S. feared they would fall behind the Soviet Union.

The Korean War was being fought and the military felt that the risks were insignificant.

American patriotism was still high from World War II and people did not question the government.

All of the above.

Question Williams uses the term “downwinders” to describe the people of Utah. What does she mean?

4. Williams uses the term “downwinders” to describe the people of Utah. What does she mean?

The people of Utah tend to feel the aftereffects of things they have no control of; thus, they are “downwind.”

The people of Utah, during the pioneer days, used the wind to push their wagons into the Salt Lake Basin.

The people of Utah were downwind from the nuclear tests being conducted in Nevada.

None of the above.

Question In paragraph 29, Williams writes The King can do no wrong. Why does she include this quote in her essay?

5. In paragraph 29, Williams writes “The King can do no wrong.” Why does she include this quote in her essay?

It is the implicit defense the United States government used to defend its nuclear testing.

It is intended to be a sarcastic comment about the United States government and the policy of above-ground nuclear testing.

It is meant to refer back to the immunity of monarchs established in England.

All of the above.

Question What is the reader to infer from the evidence presented in paragraph 35?

6. What is the reader to infer from the evidence presented in paragraph 35?

More than likely, Williams’s mother contracted cancer due to the nuclear tests she was exposed to.

Williams does not believe that the nuclear tests affected her family.

The nuclear test was an important part of the war effort and was ultimately justified.

Williams’ father lied to her for years concerning the tests.

Question What purpose does the story of Williams’s dream (paragraphs 38-51) serve?

7. What purpose does the story of Williams’s dream (paragraphs 38–51) serve?

The dream is meant to be a clever diversion to mask Williams’s true argument.

Williams used this dream as a legal defense in her civil disobedience trial.

It helps to define the spiritual aspect that Williams feels in this struggle.

Through the use of the story, Williams creates a division between herself and the United States government.

Question When the soldier discovers the pad and paper that Williams had stashed in her boot, why does Williams refer to them as “weapons”?

8. When the soldier discovers the pad and paper that Williams had stashed in her boot, why does Williams refer to them as “weapons”?

Williams has violent tendencies.

Williams uses her writing skills to fight her battles.

Williams wished for the soldier to see her as an enemy.

None of the above.