2 2

Questions 12-22 are based on the following passage.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
12
A) NO CHANGE
Thomas Nast, the Crusading Cartoonist B) Therefore,
“Stop them pictures!” Legend has it that the corrupt C) Furthermore,
D) DELETE the underlined portion.
politician William “Boss” Tweed once used those words
when ordering someone to offer a bribe to Thomas Nast,
13
an artist who had become famous for cartoons that called
Which choice most effectively combines the
for reforms to end corruption. 12 As a result, Tweed’s underlined sentences?
attempt to silence the artist failed, and Nast’s cartoons, A) Powerful political organizations in the 1860s and
the 1870s started taking control of city
published in magazines like Harper’s Weekly, actually governments, and they were known as
“political machines.”
played a key role in bringing Boss Tweed and his cronies
B) Known as “political machines,” in the 1860s and
to justice. the 1870s, political organizations that were
powerful started taking control of city
13 There were powerful political organizations in
governments.
the 1860s and the 1870s. The organizations were known C) City governments were taken control of in the
1860s and the 1870s, and powerful political
as “political machines” and started taking control of city
organizations known as “political machines”
governments. These political machines were able to pack did so.
D) In the 1860s and the 1870s, powerful political
legislatures and courts with hand-picked supporters by
organizations known as “political machines”
purchasing 14 votes, a form of election fraud involving started taking control of city governments.

the exchange of money or favors for votes. Once a

political machine had control of enough important 14
A) NO CHANGE
positions, its members were able to use public funds to
B) votes, being
enrich themselves and their friends. Boss Tweed’s
C) votes, that is
Tammany Hall group, which controlled New York D) votes, which it is
15 City in the 1860s—stole more than $30 million,
15
A) NO CHANGE
B) City in the 1860s,
C) City, in the 1860s,
D) City in the 1860s

Unauthorized copying or reuse of any part of this page is illegal. 26 CO NTI N U E

 2 2
the equivalent of more than $365 million today.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
16
16 Tweed had been elected to a single two-year term in The writer is considering deleting the underlined
sentence. Should the sentence be kept or deleted?
Congress in 1852. Tammany Hall was so powerful and
A) Kept, because it introduces the quote from the
17 corrupt that, the New York Times, commented New York Times in the next sentence.
“There is absolutely nothing . . . in the city which is B) Kept, because it adds a vital detail about Tweed
that is necessary to understand his power.
beyond the reach of the insatiable gang.”
C) Deleted, because it blurs the focus of the
Given the extent of Tweed’s power, it is remarkable paragraph by introducing loosely related
information.
that a single cartoonist could have played such a
D) Deleted, because it contains information that
significant role in bringing about his downfall. Nast’s undermines the main claim of the passage.
cartoons depicted Tweed as a great big bloated thief. One
of the artist’s most 18 famous images showed Tweed 17
A) NO CHANGE
with a bag of money in place of his 19 head. Another
B) corrupt, that the New York Times commented,
featured Tweed leaning against a ballot box with the
C) corrupt that the New York Times commented,
caption “As long as I count the votes, what are you going D) corrupt that the New York Times, commented
to do about it?” These cartoons were so effective in part
because many of the citizens who supported Tweed were 18
illiterate and thus could not read the newspaper accounts A) NO CHANGE
B) famous and well-known
of his criminal activities. Nast’s cartoons, though, widely
C) famous and commonly known
exposed the public to the injustice of Tweed’s political
D) famous, commonly known
machine.

19
Which choice adds the most relevant supporting
information to the paragraph?
A) head; like many other Nast cartoons, that one
was published in Harper’s Weekly.
B) head; Nast would later illustrate Tweed’s escape
from prison.
C) head, one depiction that omits Tweed’s
signature hat.
D) head, an image that perfectly captured Tweed’s
greedy nature.

Unauthorized copying or reuse of any part of this page is illegal. 27 CO NTI N U E

 2 2

...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Nast’s campaign to bring down Tweed and the 20
Tammany Hall gang was ultimately successful. In the A) NO CHANGE
elections of 1871, the public voted against most of the B) persecuted on
C) persecuted with
Tammany Hall candidates, greatly weakening Tweed’s
D) prosecuted on
power. Eventually, Tweed and his gang were
20 persecuted for a number of charges, including fraud 21
and larceny, and many of them were sent to jail. In 1875 A) NO CHANGE
Tweed escaped from jail and fled to Spain and B) bringing
unwittingly 21 brought about one final 22 pinnacle for C) brings
D) has brought
the power of political cartoons: A Spanish police officer
recognized Tweed from one of Nast’s cartoons.
22
Consequently, Tweed was sent back to jail, and Nast was
A) NO CHANGE
hailed as the man who toppled the great Tammany Hall B) triumph
machine. C) culmination
D) apex

Unauthorized copying or reuse of any part of this page is illegal. 28 CO NTI N U E