Practice Test 2 45

Read the article “Americans All” and the poem “Legal Alien” before answering Numbers
37 through 45.

AMERICANS ALL
by Michael Dorris

I
recognize them hotels, but none of that matters. It’s as though we’re
instantly abroad: individually implanted with some invisible beeper,
on the street, some national homing device, that’s activated by
in crowded rooms, the proximity of similar equipment.
on airplanes, at This common denominator is manifest in
restaurants—but how? shared knowledge (we all know who Mary Tyler
It’s emphatically not Moore1 is), topics of mutual interest or dispute
skin color, not clothing, (guns, the environment, choice), and popular
not little red-white- culture (do we or do we not deserve a thousand-
and-blues stitched to calorie break today 2?). In other words,
their breast pockets. we take the same things seriously or
They don’t have to say not seriously, are capable of speaking,
anything, to show a when we choose to, not merely a
passport, or to sing the common language but a common
“Star-Spangled Banner,” idiom, and know the melodies,
but nevertheless if not all the words, to many of
they’re unmistakable the same songs.
in any foreign setting. Why, then, doesn’t any of this
Americans. We count when we’re not overseas?
come in all varieties Why, at home, do we seem so
of size, age, and different from each other, so
style. We travel singly mutually incompatible, so
and in groups. We’re strange and forbidding? Do we
alternately loud and have to recognize each other
disapproving or humble in Tokyo or Cairo in order to
and apologetic. We seek see through the distinctions
each other out or self- and into the commonalities?
consciously avoid each How does that “we,” so
other’s company. We pack obvious anywhere else in the
our gear in Gucci bags world, get split into “us” and
or stuff it into Patagonia “them” when we’re stuck within
backpacks, travel first- our own borders?
class or on Eurail passes, stay The answer is clear: To be
in youth hostels or in luxury Americans means to be not the

1
Mary Tyler Moore: an American TV and movie actress most widely known for her 1970s
show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
2
do we not deserve . . . a break today: reference to an old McDonald’s jingle, “You deserve
a break today.”
 Practice Test 2 46
clone of the people next door. I fly back from any restaurant next to a table of Chinese-American
homogeneous country, from a place where every conventioneers from Alabama. Get directions
person I see is blond, or black, or belongs to only from an Iranian American cop and drink a cup
one religion, and then disembark at JFK. I revel of Turkish coffee served by a Navajo student at
in the cadence of many accents, catch a ride to Fordham who’s majoring in Japanese literature.
the city with a Nigerian-American or Russian- Argue with everybody about everything. I’m
American cabdriver. Eat Thai food at a Greek home.
 Practice Test 2 47

Legal Alien
by Pat Mora
Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural,
able to slip from “How’s life?”
to “Me’stan volviendo loca,”
able to sit in a paneled office
drafting memos in smooth English,
able to order in fluent Spanish
at a Mexican restaurant,
American but hyphenated,
viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,
perhaps inferior, definitely different,
viewed by Mexicans as alien,
(their eyes say, “You may speak
Spanish but you’re not like me”)
an American to Mexicans
a Mexican to Americans
a handy token
sliding back and forth
between the fringes of both worlds
by smiling
by masking the discomfort
of being pre-judged
Bi-laterally.
 Practice Test 2 48

Now answer Numbers 37 through 45. Base your answers on the article “Americans All” and the poem
“Legal Alien.”
37.Which sentence from the article “Americans All” best expresses its main idea?
A. “We come in all varieties of size, age, and style.”
B. “We’re alternately loud and disapproving or humble and apologetic.”
C. “To be Americans means to be not the clone of the people next door.”
D. “We seek each other out or self-consciously avoid each other’s company.”

38.How does the author organize the article “Americans All”?

F. by showing the causes and effects of American behavior
G. by describing his most important to least important points
H. by comparing and contrasting Americans at home and abroad
I. by telling amusing stories about Americans traveling in Europe

39.Read this sentence from “Americans All.”

I fly back from any homogeneous country, from a place where every person I see is blond, or
black, or belongs to only one religion, and then disembark at JFK.
What does the word homogeneous mean in the above sentence?
A. distant
B. foreign
C. new
D. same

40.What does the author of “Americans All” mean when he says, “Argue with everybody about
everything. I’m home”?
F. He has a deep understanding of most political issues.
G. He wants to be sure his point of view is heard by all.
H. He knows he can speak his thoughts freely in the United States.
I. He has a hard time getting along with people from other cultures.

41.Which line from the poem “Legal Alien” is supported by the author’s treatment of the words Bi-lingual,
Bi-cultural, and Bi-laterally?
A. “an American to Mexicans”
B. “American but hyphenated”
C. “able to order in fluent Spanish”
D. “drafting memos in smooth English”

42.Read these lines from “Legal Alien.”

sliding back and forth
between the fringes of both worlds
In the above lines, the author uses all of the following literary devices EXCEPT
F. simile, comparing how she feels in one culture to how she feels in another
G. imagery, using vivid words to create a mental image of her movement to each world
H. personification, giving human qualities to the way she moves between the two worlds
I. alliteration, alternating the letters b and f to reflect how she bounces from one culture to the other
 Practice Test 2 49

43.What problem does the speaker in the poem “Legal Alien” face?
A. longing to belong to just one culture
B. confusion over her own self-identity
C. distrust from other bilingual Americans
D. prejudice from both Anglos and Mexicans

44.How does the speaker in the poem “Legal Alien” resolve her problem?
F. by educating others about what she is really like
G. by becoming more a part of one culture than another
H. by enjoying the advantages of belonging to two cultures
I. by pretending not to be bothered by others’ reaction to her

45.With which statement about Americans would both

authors agree?
A. Americans are unaware of how they come across to others.
B. Americans are sometimes intolerant of their cultural differences.
C. Americans have a rich culture that they carry to other countries.
D. Americans often embrace other Americans when visiting other countries.