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Passage 59

 

     Schools expect textbooks to be a valuable source of

  information for students. My research suggests, however,

  that textbooks that address the place of Native Americans

  within he history of the United States distort history to suit     

(5) a particular cultural value system. In some textbooks, for

  example, settlers are pictured as more humane, complex,

  skillful, and wise than Native American. In essence,

  textbooks stereotype and deprecate the numerous Native

  American cultures while reinforcing the attitude that the

(10) European conquest of the New World denotes the superi-

   ority of European cultures. Although textbooks evaluete

   Native American architecture, political systems, and home-

   making. I contend that they do it from an ethnocentric,

(15) European perspective without recognizing that other per-

   spectives are possible.

One argument against my contention asserts that, by

   nature, textbooks are culturally biased and that I am simply    

   underestimating children's ability to see through these

(20) biases. Some researchers even claim that by the time

   students are in high school, they know they cannot take

   textbooks literally. Yet substantial evidence exists to the

   contrary. Two researchers, for example, have conducted

   studies that suggest that children's attitudes about particular

(25) culture are strongly influenced by the textbooks used in

   schools. Given this, an ongoing, careful review of how

   school textbooks depict Native American is certainly

   warranted.

 

1. Which of the following would most logically be the 

   topic of the paragraph immediately following the

   passage?

  (A) Specific ways to evaluate the biases of United States

     history textbooks

  (B) The centrality of the teacher's role in United States

     history courses

  (C) Nontraditional methods of teaching United States

      history

  (D) The contributions of European immigrants to the

     development of the United States

  (E) Ways in which parents influence children's political

     attitudes

 

2. The primary purpose of the passage is to

  (A) describe in detail one research study regarding the

     impact of history textbooks on children's attitudes

     and beliefs about certain cultures

  (B) describe revisions that should be made to United

 States history textbooks

  (C) discuss the difficulty of presenting an accurate

 history of the United States

  (D) argue that textbooks used in schools stereotype

 Native Americans and influence children's attitudes

  (E) summarize ways in which some textbooks give

 distorted pictures of the political systems developed

 by various Native American groups

 

3. The author mentions two researchers' studies (lines22-

  25) most likely in order to

  (A) suggest that children's political attitudes are formed   

     primarily through textbooks

  (B) counter the claim that children are able to see

     through stereotypes in textbooks

  (C) suggest that younger children tend to interpret the

     messages in textbooks more literally than do older

     children

  (D) demonstrate that textbooks carry political messages

     meant to influence their readers

  (E) prove that textbooks are not biased in terms of their

     political presentations

 

4. The author's attitude toward the content of the history

   textbooks discussed in the passage is best described as

   one of

   (A) indifference

   (B) hesitance

   (C) neutrality

   (D) amusement

   (E) disapproval

 

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the researchers

  mentioned in line 19 would be most likely to agree

  with which of the following statements?

  (A) Students form attitudes about cultures other than

      their own primarily inside the school environment.

  (B) For the most part, seniors in high school know that

     textbooks can be biased.

  (C) Textbooks play a crucial role in shaping the attitudes

 and beliefs of students.

  (D) Elementary school students are as likely to

     recognize biases in textbooks as are high school

     students.

  (E) Students are less likely to give credence to history

     textbooks than to mathematics textbooks.

 

6. The author implies tha5t which of the following will

  occur if textbooks are not carefully reviewed?

  (A) Children will remain ignorant of the European

      settlers' conquest of the New World.

  (B) Children will lose their ability to recognize biases

 in textbooks.

  (C) Children will form negative stereotypes of Native

 Americans.

  (D) Children will develop an understanding of

     ethnocentrism.

  (E) Children will stop taking textbooks seriously.

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