Sadlier-Oxford VOCABULARY WORKSHOP SAT Practice Worksheet
PASSAGE-BASED READING
Name
Date
Questions 1-4 are based on the following
passage.
1. According to paragraph 1, the Library of
Congress is
Read the passage and the questions below.
Then choose the letter of the best answer for
each question.
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Level G Unit 10
The Library of Congress, founded in
Washington, D.C. in 1800, is the nation’s oldest
federal cultural institution. With more than 130
million items in 460 languages on about 530 miles
of bookshelves, it is also the largest library in the
world. The library’s mission, which originally was
to serve as a research tool for Congress, has long
since expanded to include the American people as
a whole. With outstanding collections of books,
manuscripts, music, prints, and maps, the library
can justifiably hope to preserve what its
administrators have described as “a universal
collection of knowledge and creativity for future
generations.”
The original Library of Congress, however, was
short-lived. Established with a Congressional
appropriation of $5,000 and housed in the new
Capitol building, the library was burned and
pillaged by the British in August 1814. Thomas
Jefferson, then retired, promptly offered his
personal library as a replacement. As a collector
for over half a century, Jefferson had amassed
nearly 6,500 books, and his insatiable curiosity
made his collection one of the finest in the United
States. Philosophy, science, and literature figured
prominently among Jefferson’s interests, and the
broad base of his gift established an important
precedent: the Library of Congress would not be
narrowly limited to works on law, government, or
economics. The Jeffersonian “concept of
universality” —the belief that all subjects are
important in a national library—has prevailed
throughout the Library’s subsequent history.
Another milestone in the Library’s history was
the copyright law of 1870, whereby all applicants
were required to send two free copies of their
work to the Library of Congress. Ainsworth Rand
Spofford, who was then the Librarian of Congress,
lobbied aggressively for a new building, and his
efforts were repaid in 1897, when the Library’s
current premises first opened to the public.
Today the Library of Congress not only serves
as an invaluable resource and research institution,
it also sponsors exhibitions, lectures, concerts, and
publications; it serves as the national center for
service to the blind; and it maintains a widely used
system of classification.
(A) located in Philadelphia
(B) the nation’s oldest federal cultural
institution
(C) the third-largest library in the world
(D) available only to members of
Congress
(E) known especially for its map
collection
2. You can infer from the passage that the original
Library of Congress was destroyed in
(A) the Seven Years’ War
(B) the Revolutionary War
(C) the War of 1812
(D) the Civil War
(E) the Spanish American War
3. The phrase “Jeffersonian universality” in the
context of the passage refers to
(A) Jefferson’s landslide victories in
the elections of 1800 and 1804
(B) the belief that all subjects are
important in a national library
(C) the expansionist policy underlying
the Louisiana Purchase
(D) Jefferson’s notions of foreign policy
(E) Jefferson’s belief that the Library of
Congress should be open to all the
people
4. According to the passage, the copyright law of
1870 required
(A) the Library to close for renovations
(B) a national tax to support the Library
(C) all copyright holders to send two
copies of their work to the Library
(D) people to file a uniform application
for a grant of copyright
(E) copyright holders to pay a 1% revenue
tax in exchange for copyright
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