May 2022 International SAT Reading Test (Q 31-41)

The foundations of progress and prosperity are
dependent as never before upon the wise policies of
government, for government now touches at a
thousand points the intricate web of economic and
⁵ social life. Under administration by the Republican
Party in the last 71/2 years our country as a whole
has made unparalleled progress.... Prosperity is no
idle expression. It is a job for every worker, is the
safety and the safeguard of every business and every
¹⁰ home. A continuation of the policies of the
Republican Party is fundamentally necessary to the
further advancement of this progress and to the
further building up of this prosperity.

... The first necessity of any nation is the
¹⁵ smooth functioning of the vast business machinery
for employment, feeding, clothing, housing and
providing luxuries and comforts to people. Unless
these basic elements are properly organised and
function, there can be no progress in business, in
²⁰ education, literature, music or art. There can be no
advance in the fundamental ideals of a people.
A people cannot make progress in poverty....
My conception of America is a land where men
and women may walk in ordered freedom in the
²⁵ independent conduct of their occupations; where
they may enjoy the advantages of wealth, not
concentrated in the hands of the few but spread
through the lives of all, where they build and
safeguard their homes, and give to their children the
³⁰ fullest advantages and opportunities of American
life; where every man shall be respected in the faith
that his conscience and his heart direct him to follow;
where a contented and happy people, secure in their
liberties, free from poverty and fear, shall have the
³⁵ leisure and impulse to seek a fuller life.

Some may ask where ail this may lend beyond
mere material progress. It leads to a release of the
energies of men and women from the dull drudgery
of life to a wider vision and a higher hope. It leads to
⁴⁰ the opportunity for greater and greater service, not
alone from man to man in our own land, but from
our country to the whole world.

Passage 2

[The election of Herbert Hoover] means that the
direction we have taken since the World War will be
⁴⁵ continued and accelerated. Personally, I think this is
a hopeless direction... I am basing my opinion on
the testimony of those who outwardly support this
direction and appear to profit by it. For these same
people, in their sincere inner lives and feelings, reject
⁵⁰ it and know they are not profiting by it. Yes, any
number of business men like business as a game. It is
good sport. But there are many who feel that it is a
dirty game, a burden, a thing to be rid of as quickly
as possible.... Thousands of business men
⁵⁵ impatiently await the day when they can quit....
This is not the attitude of one who values a thing. On
the contrary. This is the attitude of one who hates a
thing....

The election also means that Business will
⁶⁰ increase its domination over all other forms of
American life. The arts, sciences, and professions,
will be even more constrained to take the tempo and
technique of commerce, industry finance, and
advertising....

⁶⁵ Bernard Shaw¹ has pointed out that business in its
proper sphere is, as it were, quite all right; but that
when it assumes the role of governing, as in America
it is a source of destructive behavior. Well, we are on
the way to seeing business not only assume the role
⁷⁰ of governing, but be the government, more, be
America. Soon we will say, America is Business.

We have some literature. We have great quantities
of literary-business. We have some art. Quantities of
art-business. We have some excellent physicians and
⁷⁵ dentists. We have a great deal of medical and dental
business. And so on. Education, science, religion,
philosophy, in short, all professions and all forms of
culture are coming to be but branches of Big
Business.

⁸⁰ The majority of the American people appear to
wish just this.

Also, it seems, the majority of us wish another
war. At any rate, we are not willing to risk the loss of
five dollars in order to avert another war. We know
⁸⁵ quite well that we are over-producing. We also know
that over- production, together with a surplus of
capital, leads necessarily to the establishment of
foreign markets; and that competition for these
markets brings nations to war. But over- production
⁹⁰ is, it appears, an inevitable part of our Prosperity.
At all costs, we must have Prosperity.
¹ Irish playwright