SRT-103: Short Reading Test

SRT-103

(Short Reading Test)

Read the given text carefully and do the activities that follow.(10)

In the United States, the people do not elect the president by direct vote. This is so because the men who wrote the constitution in 1787 AD believed that ordinary people would not be informed enough to make such an important decision, and they created a system whereby a representative group of citizens called the electoral college would be responsible for making the choice. The candidate with the most votes became president, and the candidate receiving the next highest number of votes became the vice-president. But in 1800 AD,  when Aaron Burr and Thomas Jefferson received an equal number of votes, the system had to be changed to provide for separate voting for president and vice-president.

Later, when political parties had become more influential, the parties nominated candidates and then chose electors to vote for them.

Today, each political party in the state nominates a slate of electors pledged to support the party’s nominees for president and vice-president. Each state has the same number of electors in the college as it has members of Congress. On Election Day, registered voters go to the polls to choose the electors.

In most states, the ballots list only the names of the candidates for the presidents and the vice—president that the electors have pledged to support. This vote by the people for the electors is called the popular vote, and the candidates who receive the most popular votes win all the electoral votes in a state. Look at this diagram.

A. Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

   i.    What is the electoral college?

  ii.    Why does the speaker mention Aaron and Thomas Jefferson?

iii.    How are the people nominated for the electoral college?

iv.    What is the popular vote?

  v.    How many electors does each state possess?

B. State whether the following statements are true or false.

1.  In the United States, the president is elected directly by the people.

2.  Vice the president is nominated by the president.

3.  The system of direct election for president was changed in 1880.

4.  Political parties choose candidates who then choose electors to vote for them.

5.  On election day, only the registered voters go to the polls to choose electors.

6.  The vote by the people for the president is called the popular vote.

C. Find words from the text that are closest in meaning to the following.

1. modality
2. general
3. to propose
4. being able to be blamed for something

D. Summarize the above text in about 80 words

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(Credit Source: Cliffs TOEFL Preparation Guide, 2004 ed)