Question

In the half-century that has since elapsed, a fundamental shift of the international balance has taken place, with the sites of power spreading outward from Europe to the periphery. The governing seat vacated by the collapse of Britain has been taken — not without kicking and protesting against our fate — by this country.

—“How We Entered World War I,”
Barbara Tuchman

Which of the following statements best paraphrases the central idea of this paragraph?

Britain and the United States are the world’s two dominant powers.

Britain was upset when the United States became an important world power.

The United States replaced Britain as a leader in international affairs.

World power shifted from central Europe to bordering countries.

Answer 1

. . . There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.

—War message to Congress,
Woodrow Wilson

What is Wilson’s viewpoint in this passage?

Only the United States is capable of defending democracy.

All countries must be in agreement.

The United States’ motive for going to war is to fight for what is right.

Revenge will impede the United States’ success.

Answer 2

To ban loans and embargo munitions would have been to give realistic expression to the isolation that the people and their President believed they enjoyed. But it would have closed off the wealth of unlimited orders, and Americans did not wish to suffer for their neutrality. Rather they hoped to make a good thing of it. With these two economic measures taken before the war was three months old, the fact, if not the illusion, of isolation was dead.

—“How We Entered World War I,”
Barbara Tuchman

Based on the paragraph, what is the primary structure used by the author?

Answer 3

The statement that best paraphrases the central idea of the paragraph is:

**The United States replaced Britain as a leader in international affairs.**

Answer 4

Wilson’s viewpoint in this passage is best summarized by the statement:

**The United States’ motive for going to war is to fight for what is right.**

Answer 5

The primary structure used by the author in this paragraph is **cause and effect**. The author discusses the consequences of not implementing economic measures (banning loans and embargoing munitions) that would align with the isolationist sentiment of the people and their President. Instead, the desire for economic gain leads to the abandonment of true neutrality, demonstrating how the hope for profit ultimately undermines the concept of isolation.