Sadlier-Oxford VOCABULARY WORKSHOP ACT Practice Worksheet
Name
Level G Unit 15
Date
Model Reading Test
DIRECTIONS: Read the passage and then pick the best answer for each question. Circle the letter of
each correct answer. Refer to the passage as often as you wish while answering the questions.
SOCIAL STUDIES: From the 11th to the 16th
century, the guild was one of the most important
economic and social units in medieval Europe.
Whether or not guilds are directly descended from
the collegia of ancient Rome, as some historians
have argued, their development is closely linked
with the formation and growth of towns in the
10th and 11th centuries.
Although the medieval guilds subsisted for five
centuries, the growth of nations and the
accelerating pace of technology in the 16th and 17th
centuries led to their demise. Merchants became
capitalistic entrepreneurs and formed companies,
thus superseding merchant guilds, while new
trading patterns weakened the pre-eminence of
craft guilds.
Medieval guilds may be divided into two basic
types: merchant guilds and craft guilds. Merchant
guilds knitted together all or most of the
merchants in a particular town or city. Craft guilds,
on the other hand, were associations of workers in
a particular trade or industry: for example,
leatherworkers, weavers, masons, bakers, or
blacksmiths. Guilds of both types performed a
broad range of important functions. First, they
constituted a monopoly of trade or within a
particular branch of industry. Second, they set
quality standards for production and insured
integrity in the trading process. Third, they
cooperated to maintain stable prices. And finally,
they pursued their own economic interests with
town or city governments; this aspect of their
activities can be compared to lobbying interests
today.
1. According to the author, medieval guilds may be
divided into how many basic types?
Both merchant and craft guilds might be active
within a single industry. In wool processing, for
example, a merchant guild might take charge of
purchasing raw wool and selling the finished
product, while craft guilds would control the
various operations of processing the fiber: carding,
weaving, and dyeing.
Medieval guilds were especially notable for their
hierarchical structure. In craft guilds, for example,
there were essentially three echelons: master,
journeyman, and apprentice. At the top of the
pyramid were the masters: established craftsmen of
widely acknowledged ability. At the bottom of the
hierarchy were apprentices, boys in late childhood
or adolescence who received food, shelter,
clothing, and training from a master in exchange
for a term of service lasting from five to nine
years. In between masters and apprentices were
journeymen: young adults who were paid wages by
masters for their labor.
(A) 2
(B) 3
(C) 4
(D) 6
2. The writer mentions all the following as
important functions of guilds EXCEPT
(F) importing materials
(G) maintaining stable prices
(H) lobbying with local government
(J) establishing monopolies
3. Which of the following statements is NOT
accurate about guild apprentices?
(A) They received wages for their labor.
(B) They were trained by masters.
(C) They were boys in late childhood or
adolescence.
(D) They received free food and shelter.
4. In paragraph 5, the word subsisted most nearly
means
(F) came into existence
(G) struggled for existence
(H) continued
(J) declined
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