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ACT Reading: Social Science (Drill 3)

Drill 3 · Reading · Social Science

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About This Drill

ACT Reading: Social Science (Drill 3) is a Reading practice drill covering Social Science. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.

Social Science passages cover topics in psychology, sociology, economics, political science, and related fields. As you read, identify the central argument or finding, the evidence used to support it, and how the author interprets that evidence. Questions may ask about main ideas, specific claims, inferences, or the purpose of particular information.

Passage

SOCIAL SCIENCE: This passage is adapted from the article "Counting the Nation: The Science and Policy of the U.S. Census" by Martin Okafor (©2021, Public Policy Review). The United States Census, conducted every ten years, is one of the largest data-collection efforts in the world. Its results are used to apportion the 435 seats in the House of Representatives among states, to guide the distribution of hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding for programs such as highway construction and school lunch programs, and to draw the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts. The accuracy of the census therefore has direct consequences for how political power and public resources are allocated. Achieving an accurate count is a significant logistical challenge. The Census Bureau must account for a population of more than 330 million people living in a wide variety of housing situations, across geographies ranging from dense urban centers to remote rural communities. Response rates vary considerably: historically, certain groups, including young children, renters, and residents of rural and remote areas, have been counted at lower rates than the general population, called a differential undercount. The Census Bureau invests substantial resources in reducing the differential undercount. Outreach campaigns are conducted in multiple languages and through a variety of media channels. Enumerators are deployed to follow up with households that do not respond by mail or online. In recent decades, the bureau has also refined its questionnaire design based on extensive testing, with the goal of making questions clearer and responses more consistent across demographic groups. One area of ongoing refinement involves the questions used to categorize respondents by race and ethnicity. The 2020 census introduced a revised question format that had been tested over several years. Research found that the revised format produced higher rates of consistent responses and reduced the frequency with which respondents selected ambiguous answer categories, improving the overall reliability of demographic data.

Questions & Explanations

Question 1. The main point of the passage is that:

  • A) the U.S. Census has significant practical consequences for political representation and the distribution of federal resources. ✓
  • B) the Census Bureau has largely resolved the historical problems of racial undercounting through recent methodological improvements.
  • C) the House of Representatives should use census data differently in order to more accurately apportion congressional seats.
  • D) the introduction of the Hispanic category in 1980 was the most important change in census history.

Explanation: Choice A is correct. The passage explains throughout that census results directly affect the allocation of congressional seats, federal funding, and district boundaries, making it a document with significant practical consequences. It also acknowledges that achieving a complete count involves ongoing challenges. Choice B overstates the improvements; the passage notes that differential undercounts persist. Choice C introduces a policy recommendation the passage does not make. Choice D singles out one change as most important, which the passage does not claim.

Question 2. According to the passage, the results of the U.S. Census are used for all of the following EXCEPT:

  • F) apportioning seats in the House of Representatives among states.
  • G) guiding the distribution of federal funding for public programs.
  • H) drawing the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts.
  • J) determining the number of judges appointed to the federal court system. ✓

Explanation: Choice J is correct. The passage lists three specific uses of census results: apportioning House seats, distributing federal funding, and drawing legislative district boundaries. Federal judicial appointments are not mentioned. Choices F, G, and H are all explicitly stated in the passage's first paragraph.

Question 3. The passage most strongly suggests that the 2020 census questionnaire revision was designed primarily to:

  • A) shorten the questionnaire in order to increase the rate of household responses.
  • B) improve the consistency and reliability of demographic responses. ✓
  • C) align census categories with those used by state governments.
  • D) replace the traditional mail-based format with an entirely digital questionnaire.

Explanation: Choice G is correct. The passage states that the revised format 'produced higher rates of consistent responses and reduced the frequency with which respondents selected ambiguous answer categories, improving the overall reliability of demographic data.' Choice F introduces shortening the questionnaire as a goal not mentioned in the passage. Choice H introduces state government alignment not stated in the passage. Choice J introduces a shift to digital format not discussed in the passage.

Question 4. As it is used in the passage, the word 'apportioned' most nearly means:

  • F) elected.
  • G) distributed according to a formula. ✓
  • H) contested in a legal proceeding.
  • J) reduced in number.

Explanation: Choice G is correct. 'Apportioned' refers to the process of allocating the 435 House seats among states based on population, distributing them proportionally according to census data. Choice F confuses apportionment with election; seats are allocated to states by formula, then filled through elections. Choice H introduces legal proceedings not relevant to this usage. Choice J implies a reduction, which is not the meaning here.

Question 5. The final paragraph of the passage primarily serves to:

  • A) describe the specific outreach strategies the Census Bureau uses to improve response rates, as the passage describes it.
  • B) explain the area of questionnaire design that has been most recently refined by the Census Bureau. ✓
  • C) argue that the Census Bureau's questionnaire testing process is insufficient.
  • D) propose that the census be conducted more frequently than every ten years.

Explanation: Choice G is correct. The final paragraph focuses specifically on the revision of race and ethnicity questions, the area of questionnaire design most recently refined through multi-year testing. Choice F describes outreach strategies, which are covered in the third paragraph, not the final one. Choice H introduces a critical stance toward the testing process that the passage does not take. Choice J introduces a change to the census schedule not mentioned anywhere in the passage.