Questions 40-50

At the turn of the nineteenth century, Concord was a thriving community, already famous throughout the young nation for its critical early role in the events leading up to the American Revolution. It was the half shire town for Middlesex County, attracting over 500 visitors to the courts twice a year, among them customers for Concord’s hats, shoes, carriages and clocks. Among Concord’s approximately 400 heads of households in this period, about 65% were in agriculture, 4% in commerce, and 35% in manufacturing. Of those in manufacturing, seven men headed clockmaking shops and another thirty or so were engaged in the shops or in businesses that supplied the clockmaking trade – the brass foundry, iron forge, wire-drawing mill, and a number of cabinetmaking shops. In short, the center of Concord, the Milldam, was a machine for the production of clocks, second only in importance to Boston’s industrial Roxbury Neck, where the influential Willard family had been producing clocks since about 1785.
While the handsome and well-crafted clocks of these seven shops, featuring inlaid mahogany cases, enameled dials and reverse painted glasses, are generally perceived as products of a traditional clockmaker (one person at a bench fashioning an eight-day clock from scratch) , they are actually products of a network of shops employing journeymen labor that extended from Concord to Boston and overseas to the highly developed tool trade of Lancashire, England,
In addition to crafting in the fashionable Willard features such as the pierced fretwork, columns with brass fixtures, and white enamel dial, Concord clockmakers attempted to differentiate their products from those of the Willards through such means as a distinctive ornamental inlay, which added to the perception of custom work not usually seen on the Willard’s standardized products. The Willards also made less expensive wall clocks, including “banjo clocks” patented by Simon Willard in 1802. The distinctive diamond shaped design and inverted movement of some Concord wall clocks may reflect an attempt to circumvent Willard’s patent.

40. What is the passage primarily about?
(a) clockmaking in Concord at the turn of the nineteenth century
(b) Concord at the turn of the nineteenth century
(c) Competition between Concord clockmakers and the Willards
(d) The influence of the Willards on clockmaking in Concord

41. According to the passage, which of the following businesses did NOT supply the clockmaking trade?
(a) wire-drawing mill
(b) cabinetmaking shops
(c) iron forge
(d) glass shops

42. The phrase “in short” in line 10 is closest in meaning to
(a) generally speaking
(b) to sum up
(c) in conclusion
(d) however

43. According to the passage, “the Milldam” was
(a) where the Willard family had been producing clocks ;
(b) a type of clock
(c) in Boston’s industrial Roxbury Neck
(d) in Concord

44. Which of the following terms does the author explain in the passage?
(a) banjo clocks(line 24)
(b) journeymen labor(line 17)
(c) traditional clockmaker(line 15)
(d) pierced fretwork(line 20)

45. Which of the following features is NOT mentioned as a way the Concord clockmakers attempted to differentiate their products from Willards
(a) inverted movements
(b) brass fixtures
(c) distinctive ornamental inlay
(d) diamond shaped design

46. The word “differentiate” in line 21 is closest in meaning to
(a) identify
(b) distinguish
(c) dignify
(d) divide

47. The author implies that the Concord clockmakers
(a) would do anything to try to compete with Willards
(b) attempted to customize their products as much as possible
(c) were the most important industry in Concord
(d) were in danger of being prosecuted for breach of patent

48. The word “inverted” in line 25 is closest in meaning to
(a) intricate
(b) musical ;
(c) upside down
(d) external

49. The word “circumvent” in line 26 is closest in meaning to
(a) copy
(b) evade
(c) compete with
(d) minimize

50. Where in the passage does the author mention the features of the well-crafted clocks of Concord?
(a) lines 5-9
(b) lines 10-14
(c) lines 15-19
(d) lines 20-25

Test 4 – Answer Key

1.d 2.c 3.b 4.b 5.c 6.c 7.c 8.d 9.a 10.c

11.d 12.c 13.a 14.d 15.b 16.b 17.d 18.c 19.d 20.a

21.d 22.a 23.d 24.d 25.a 26.b 27.c 28.c 29.d 30.a

31.b 32.c 33.b 34.c 35.a 36.b 37.d 38.d 39.c 40.a

41.d 42.b 43.d 44.c 45.b 46.b 47.b 48.c 49.b 50.b