Reading Comprehension – Advanced Level – Test 5 (UK)

Passage 1

In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.

Now the trumpet summons us again–not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are–but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”–a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.

John F. Kennedy (1961) Inaugural Address

1. Which statement most accurately captures Kennedy’s intended message?

Passage 2

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

John F. Kennedy (1961) Inaugural Address

2. Who do you think Kennedy’s intended audience was?

Passage 2

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

John F. Kennedy (1961) Inaugural Address

3. “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country”. Why is this one of Kennedy’s most famous and recognisable quotes?

Passage 2

Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility–I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it–and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.

John F. Kennedy (1961) Inaugural Address

4. Which of the following is the most accurate summary of this section of the passage; “…asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God’s work must truly be our own.”

Passage 3

A 15-year-old student was arrested in Central Florida after authorities said he made an online threat to shoot up his school.

The unnamed teenage boy, who attends Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, allegedly posted a comment on a video game chat platform last week using a fake name, vowing to bring his father’s M15 assault rifle to school and kill seven people “at a minimum,” according to a statement from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

The school’s principal did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment Tuesday morning.

The comment was reported to the FBI, which contacted the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. The teenager allegedly admitted to posting the comment but insisted it was just a joke.

“Joke or not, these types of comments are felonies under the law,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday. “After the mass violence we’ve seen in Florida and across the country, law enforcement officers have a responsibility to investigate and charge those who choose to make these types of threatening statements.”

Body-camera footage released by the sheriff’s office shows the moment deputies arrived at the teen’s home on Friday morning and handcuffed him. His mother can be heard telling deputies that she does own a gun and understands threats cannot be taken lightly.

“But,” she says, “he’s just a little kid playing a video game.

Source: Winsor, Morgan – ‘Joke or not, these types of comments are felonies’: Police arrest Florida teen for online threat, ABC News

5. Based on the passage, how would the police department likely respond to the mothers comment that “he’s just a little kid playing a video game”?

Passage 3

A 15-year-old student was arrested in Central Florida after authorities said he made an online threat to shoot up his school.

The unnamed teenage boy, who attends Seabreeze High School in Daytona Beach, allegedly posted a comment on a video game chat platform last week using a fake name, vowing to bring his father’s M15 assault rifle to school and kill seven people “at a minimum,” according to a statement from the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

The school’s principal did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment Tuesday morning.

The comment was reported to the FBI, which contacted the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. The teenager allegedly admitted to posting the comment but insisted it was just a joke.

“Joke or not, these types of comments are felonies under the law,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement Monday. “After the mass violence we’ve seen in Florida and across the country, law enforcement officers have a responsibility to investigate and charge those who choose to make these types of threatening statements.”

Body-camera footage released by the sheriff’s office shows the moment deputies arrived at the teen’s home on Friday morning and handcuffed him. His mother can be heard telling deputies that she does own a gun and understands threats cannot be taken lightly.

“But,” she says, “he’s just a little kid playing a video game.

Source: Winsor, Morgan – ‘Joke or not, these types of comments are felonies’: Police arrest Florida teen for online threat, ABC News

6. Which of the following is legitimate evidence that proves that the threat was credible and the police acted appropriately? (Mark all that apply)

Passage 4

Richard Nixon’s six years in the White House remain widely viewed as pivotal in American military, diplomatic, and political history. In the two decades before Nixon took office, a liberal Democratic coalition dominated presidential politics, and American foreign policy was marked by large-scale military interventions; in the two decades after, a conservative Republican coalition dominated presidential politics, and direct military intervention was by and large replaced with aid (sometimes covert, sometimes not) to allied forces. Nixon intended his presidency to be epochal and, despite being cut short by Watergate, it was.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

7. According to the passage, Nixon hoped the legacy of his presidency would be:

Passage 4

Richard Nixon’s six years in the White House remain widely viewed as pivotal in American military, diplomatic, and political history. In the two decades before Nixon took office, a liberal Democratic coalition dominated presidential politics, and American foreign policy was marked by large-scale military interventions; in the two decades after, a conservative Republican coalition dominated presidential politics, and direct military intervention was by and large replaced with aid (sometimes covert, sometimes not) to allied forces. Nixon intended his presidency to be epochal and, despite being cut short by Watergate, it was.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

8. According to the passage, what was the biggest difference between the liberal Democratic Presidents that preceded Nixon and the conservative Republican Presidents that followed him?

Passage 5

Nixon and his presidency are often termed “complex” (sometimes “contradictory”). Scholars who classify him as liberal, moderate, or conservative find ample evidence for each label and conclusive evidence for none of them. This should be expected of a transitional political figure. In foreign and domestic policy, Nixon’s inclinations were conservative, but he assumed the presidency at the end of the 1960s, liberalism’s postwar peak. He could not achieve his overarching goal of creating a governing coalition of the right without first dismantling Franklin Roosevelt’s coalition of the left.

As President, Nixon was only as conservative as he could be and only as liberal as he had to be. He took credit for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency while privately noting that if he had not taken this liberal step, the Democratic Congress would have forced more liberal environmental legislation on him. This was a President who could philosophically oppose wage and price controls and privately express the conviction that they would not work, while still implementing them for election-year effect. Still his tactical flexibility should not obscure his steadiness of political purpose. He meant to move the country to the right, and he did.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

9. Based on this passage, which of the following words best describes Nixon’s presidency?

Passage 5

Nixon and his presidency are often termed “complex” (sometimes “contradictory”). Scholars who classify him as liberal, moderate, or conservative find ample evidence for each label and conclusive evidence for none of them. This should be expected of a transitional political figure. In foreign and domestic policy, Nixon’s inclinations were conservative, but he assumed the presidency at the end of the 1960s, liberalism’s postwar peak. He could not achieve his overarching goal of creating a governing coalition of the right without first dismantling Franklin Roosevelt’s coalition of the left.

As President, Nixon was only as conservative as he could be and only as liberal as he had to be. He took credit for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency while privately noting that if he had not taken this liberal step, the Democratic Congress would have forced more liberal environmental legislation on him. This was a President who could philosophically oppose wage and price controls and privately express the conviction that they would not work, while still implementing them for election-year effect. Still his tactical flexibility should not obscure his steadiness of political purpose. He meant to move the country to the right, and he did.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

10. Which of the following is the best explanation as to why many consider Nixon’s presidency to be “complex” or “contradictory”?

Passage 6

Nixon’s most celebrated achievements as President—nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China—set the stage for the arms reduction pacts and careful diplomacy that brought about the end of the Cold War. Likewise, the Nixon Doctrine of furnishing aid to allies while expecting them to provide the soldiers to fight in their own defense paved the way for the Reagan Doctrine of supporting proxy armies and the Weinberger Doctrine of sending U.S. armed forces into combat only as a last resort when vital national interests are at stake and objectives clearly defined.

But even these groundbreaking achievements must be considered within the context of Nixon’s political goals. He privately viewed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the China initiative as ways to blunt criticism from the political left. And while his slow withdrawal from Vietnam appeared to be a practical application of the Nixon Doctrine, his secretly recorded White House tapes reveal that he expected South Vietnam to collapse after he brought American troops home and prolonged the war to postpone that collapse until after his reelection in 1972.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

11. What is the best example in this passage of Nixon acting in a politically calculated manner?

Passage 6

Nixon’s most celebrated achievements as President—nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China—set the stage for the arms reduction pacts and careful diplomacy that brought about the end of the Cold War. Likewise, the Nixon Doctrine of furnishing aid to allies while expecting them to provide the soldiers to fight in their own defense paved the way for the Reagan Doctrine of supporting proxy armies and the Weinberger Doctrine of sending U.S. armed forces into combat only as a last resort when vital national interests are at stake and objectives clearly defined.

But even these groundbreaking achievements must be considered within the context of Nixon’s political goals. He privately viewed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the China initiative as ways to blunt criticism from the political left. And while his slow withdrawal from Vietnam appeared to be a practical application of the Nixon Doctrine, his secretly recorded White House tapes reveal that he expected South Vietnam to collapse after he brought American troops home and prolonged the war to postpone that collapse until after his reelection in 1972.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

12. How did Nixon help usher in the end of the Cold War?

Passage 7

Ultimately, the White House tapes must shape any assessment of Nixon’s impact and legacy. They ended his presidency by furnishing proof of his involvement in the Watergate cover-up, fueled a generation’s skepticism about political leaders, and today provide ample evidence of the political calculation behind the most important decisions of his presidency. They make his presidency an object lesson in the difference between image and reality, a lesson that each generation must learn anew.

Source: Hughes, Ken (2019) Richard Nixon: Impact and Legacy, University of Virginia Miller Center

What is the difference between “image and reality” that the author is alluding to in Nixon’s case?

Passage 4

Richard Nixon’s six years in the White House remain widely viewed as pivotal in American military, diplomatic, and political history. In the two decades before Nixon took office, a liberal Democratic coalition dominated presidential politics, and American foreign policy was marked by large-scale military interventions; in the two decades after, a conservative Republican coalition dominated presidential politics, and direct military intervention was by and large replaced with aid (sometimes covert, sometimes not) to allied forces. Nixon intended his presidency to be epochal and, despite being cut short by Watergate, it was.

Passage 5

Nixon and his presidency are often termed “complex” (sometimes “contradictory”). Scholars who classify him as liberal, moderate, or conservative find ample evidence for each label and conclusive evidence for none of them. This should be expected of a transitional political figure. In foreign and domestic policy, Nixon’s inclinations were conservative, but he assumed the presidency at the end of the 1960s, liberalism’s postwar peak. He could not achieve his overarching goal of creating a governing coalition of the right without first dismantling Franklin Roosevelt’s coalition of the left.

As President, Nixon was only as conservative as he could be and only as liberal as he had to be. He took credit for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency while privately noting that if he had not taken this liberal step, the Democratic Congress would have forced more liberal environmental legislation on him. This was a President who could philosophically oppose wage and price controls and privately express the conviction that they would not work, while still implementing them for election-year effect. Still his tactical flexibility should not obscure his steadiness of political purpose. He meant to move the country to the right, and he did.

Passage 6

Nixon’s most celebrated achievements as President—nuclear arms control agreements with the Soviet Union and the diplomatic opening to China—set the stage for the arms reduction pacts and careful diplomacy that brought about the end of the Cold War. Likewise, the Nixon Doctrine of furnishing aid to allies while expecting them to provide the soldiers to fight in their own defense paved the way for the Reagan Doctrine of supporting proxy armies and the Weinberger Doctrine of sending U.S. armed forces into combat only as a last resort when vital national interests are at stake and objectives clearly defined.

But even these groundbreaking achievements must be considered within the context of Nixon’s political goals. He privately viewed the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks and the China initiative as ways to blunt criticism from the political left. And while his slow withdrawal from Vietnam appeared to be a practical application of the Nixon Doctrine, his secretly recorded White House tapes reveal that he expected South Vietnam to collapse after he brought American troops home and prolonged the war to postpone that collapse until after his reelection in 1972.

Passage 7

Ultimately, the White House tapes must shape any assessment of Nixon’s impact and legacy. They ended his presidency by furnishing proof of his involvement in the Watergate cover-up, fueled a generation’s skepticism about political leaders, and today provide ample evidence of the political calculation behind the most important decisions of his presidency. They make his presidency an object lesson in the difference between image and reality, a lesson that each generation must learn anew.

14. According to passages 4-7, which of the following statements best describes Nixon?

Passage 8

It’s the gooey bits on raw chicken that compel Rita Ross to rinse it off in her kitchen sink before cooking it.

“There’s this little film between the skin and meat that I don’t like. It’s kind of like slime,” Ross, 63, of Raleigh, North Carolina, said. “I just feel like washing it makes it cleaner.”

The problem with rinsing raw chicken, however, is that instead of making it “cleaner,” it splatters potentially harmful bacteria onto kitchen counters and even other food that’s already been properly washed and ready to eat.

That’s according to research published Tuesday by the Department of Agriculture.

“A lot of people prepare their salads around the sink, so it’s cross-contaminated,” said Mindy Brashears, deputy undersecretary for food safety at the USDA.

The USDA partnered with North Carolina State University to investigate how home cooks handle raw meat, and how those practices affect nearby food.

The researchers recruited 300 people to prepare chicken and a salad in test kitchens at N.C. State. Some participants were shown food safety messages on social media ahead of time that discouraged rinsing raw chicken. Most of those participants followed the advice.

But among the control group — those who did not get the safety messages — 61 percent rinsed their raw meat. And nearly 30 percent of those participants’ salads were later found to be contaminated with bacteria from the chicken.

“How many times have you been peeling a vegetable and drop it into the sink, and you just pick it up and go on,” Brashears said. “At that point, you’ve contaminated your vegetables.”

Some of the participants “washed” their chicken by soaking it in the sink, either with water only, or adding soap, vinegar or lemon juice.

“These are horror stories from a microbiological standpoint,” said Ben Chapman, a food safety specialist and professor at N.C. State. Chapman said there’s no good evidence that soaking raw chicken in vinegar or lemon juice kills bacteria.

“What surprised me most was just how much food preparation happens in and around a sink after someone washes chicken,” he said. Often participants rinsed lettuce in a colander in the sink where they’d just had raw chicken.

Contaminated water from the basin then splashes onto the lettuce. “We in the food safety community didn’t really have a good sense of this until the work we did here,” said Chapman.

No one ate the food prepared in the studies. Investigators went into the test kitchens after the meals were prepared; swabbing the sinks and counters, finding them contaminated even after participants cleaned them.

Spice containers also showed signs of contamination.

The CDC estimates that 48 million people — one in six — get sick from a foodborne illness each year.

Edwards, Erika (August 20, 2019) Washing raw chicken won’t clean it, but it could make you sick, NBC News

15. Why did so many people in the control group wash their raw chickens?

Passage 8

It’s the gooey bits on raw chicken that compel Rita Ross to rinse it off in her kitchen sink before cooking it.

“There’s this little film between the skin and meat that I don’t like. It’s kind of like slime,” Ross, 63, of Raleigh, North Carolina, said. “I just feel like washing it makes it cleaner.”

The problem with rinsing raw chicken, however, is that instead of making it “cleaner,” it splatters potentially harmful bacteria onto kitchen counters and even other food that’s already been properly washed and ready to eat.

That’s according to research published Tuesday by the Department of Agriculture.

“A lot of people prepare their salads around the sink, so it’s cross-contaminated,” said Mindy Brashears, deputy undersecretary for food safety at the USDA.

The USDA partnered with North Carolina State University to investigate how home cooks handle raw meat, and how those practices affect nearby food.

The researchers recruited 300 people to prepare chicken and a salad in test kitchens at N.C. State. Some participants were shown food safety messages on social media ahead of time that discouraged rinsing raw chicken. Most of those participants followed the advice.

But among the control group — those who did not get the safety messages — 61 percent rinsed their raw meat. And nearly 30 percent of those participants’ salads were later found to be contaminated with bacteria from the chicken.

“How many times have you been peeling a vegetable and drop it into the sink, and you just pick it up and go on,” Brashears said. “At that point, you’ve contaminated your vegetables.”

Some of the participants “washed” their chicken by soaking it in the sink, either with water only, or adding soap, vinegar or lemon juice.

“These are horror stories from a microbiological standpoint,” said Ben Chapman, a food safety specialist and professor at N.C. State. Chapman said there’s no good evidence that soaking raw chicken in vinegar or lemon juice kills bacteria.

“What surprised me most was just how much food preparation happens in and around a sink after someone washes chicken,” he said. Often participants rinsed lettuce in a colander in the sink where they’d just had raw chicken.

Contaminated water from the basin then splashes onto the lettuce. “We in the food safety community didn’t really have a good sense of this until the work we did here,” said Chapman.

No one ate the food prepared in the studies. Investigators went into the test kitchens after the meals were prepared; swabbing the sinks and counters, finding them contaminated even after participants cleaned them.

Spice containers also showed signs of contamination.

The CDC estimates that 48 million people — one in six — get sick from a foodborne illness each year.

Edwards, Erika (August 20, 2019) Washing raw chicken won’t clean it, but it could make you sick, NBC News

16. After reading this passage, which of the statements listed below is the best advice to give a cook?

Passage 8

It’s the gooey bits on raw chicken that compel Rita Ross to rinse it off in her kitchen sink before cooking it.

“There’s this little film between the skin and meat that I don’t like. It’s kind of like slime,” Ross, 63, of Raleigh, North Carolina, said. “I just feel like washing it makes it cleaner.”

The problem with rinsing raw chicken, however, is that instead of making it “cleaner,” it splatters potentially harmful bacteria onto kitchen counters and even other food that’s already been properly washed and ready to eat.

That’s according to research published Tuesday by the Department of Agriculture.

“A lot of people prepare their salads around the sink, so it’s cross-contaminated,” said Mindy Brashears, deputy undersecretary for food safety at the USDA.

The USDA partnered with North Carolina State University to investigate how home cooks handle raw meat, and how those practices affect nearby food.

The researchers recruited 300 people to prepare chicken and a salad in test kitchens at N.C. State. Some participants were shown food safety messages on social media ahead of time that discouraged rinsing raw chicken. Most of those participants followed the advice.

But among the control group — those who did not get the safety messages — 61 percent rinsed their raw meat. And nearly 30 percent of those participants’ salads were later found to be contaminated with bacteria from the chicken.

“How many times have you been peeling a vegetable and drop it into the sink, and you just pick it up and go on,” Brashears said. “At that point, you’ve contaminated your vegetables.”

Some of the participants “washed” their chicken by soaking it in the sink, either with water only, or adding soap, vinegar or lemon juice.

“These are horror stories from a microbiological standpoint,” said Ben Chapman, a food safety specialist and professor at N.C. State. Chapman said there’s no good evidence that soaking raw chicken in vinegar or lemon juice kills bacteria.

“What surprised me most was just how much food preparation happens in and around a sink after someone washes chicken,” he said. Often participants rinsed lettuce in a colander in the sink where they’d just had raw chicken.

Contaminated water from the basin then splashes onto the lettuce. “We in the food safety community didn’t really have a good sense of this until the work we did here,” said Chapman.

No one ate the food prepared in the studies. Investigators went into the test kitchens after the meals were prepared; swabbing the sinks and counters, finding them contaminated even after participants cleaned them.

Spice containers also showed signs of contamination.

The CDC estimates that 48 million people — one in six — get sick from a foodborne illness each year.

Edwards, Erika (August 20, 2019) Washing raw chicken won’t clean it, but it could make you sick, NBC News

17. What group of people most needs to read this article?

Passage 9

In some ways, it seemed in August 1962, Marilyn Monroe was trying to pull her life together. She had just bought her first house in California’s Brentwood neighborhood for $75,000, she was on the cover of Life magazine and she had just been rehired on the film Something’s Got to Give.

But in other ways, it seemed like the bleakest of times for model-turned-Hollywood star. She had divorced her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, the year prior, there were rumors about an alleged affair between her and President John F. Kennedy Jr., and her normally picture-perfect appearances had been replaced with nails in need of a manicure and pedicure.

On August 6, 1962, 36 year-old Monroe was found dead in her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, estimated to have died six to eight hours prior on August 5. She had a phone receiver in her hand and was lying face down without any clothes on. By her side was an empty pill bottle that had held 50 capsules of Nembutal, a drug often used as a sleeping pill.

The shocking tragic ending to Monroe’s rise to glory from abandoned childhood to movie star royalty was a real-life Cinderella story…theories still abound about what may have actually led to her passing in her final days.

Chang, Rachel – Marilyn Monroe: Inside Her Final Days and Fragile State of Mind, Biography.com

18. The cause of death as described in the passage would lead one to believe that the cause of death was likely ________.

Passage 9

In some ways, it seemed in August 1962, Marilyn Monroe was trying to pull her life together. She had just bought her first house in California’s Brentwood neighborhood for $75,000, she was on the cover of Life magazine and she had just been rehired on the film Something’s Got to Give.

But in other ways, it seemed like the bleakest of times for model-turned-Hollywood star. She had divorced her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, the year prior, there were rumors about an alleged affair between her and President John F. Kennedy Jr., and her normally picture-perfect appearances had been replaced with nails in need of a manicure and pedicure.

On August 6, 1962, 36 year-old Monroe was found dead in her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, estimated to have died six to eight hours prior on August 5. She had a phone receiver in her hand and was lying face down without any clothes on. By her side was an empty pill bottle that had held 50 capsules of Nembutal, a drug often used as a sleeping pill.

The shocking tragic ending to Monroe’s rise to glory from abandoned childhood to movie star royalty was a real-life Cinderella story…theories still abound about what may have actually led to her passing in her final days.

Chang, Rachel – Marilyn Monroe: Inside Her Final Days and Fragile State of Mind, Biography.com

19. Which of the following statements is most accurate?

Passage 9

In some ways, it seemed in August 1962, Marilyn Monroe was trying to pull her life together. She had just bought her first house in California’s Brentwood neighborhood for $75,000, she was on the cover of Life magazine and she had just been rehired on the film Something’s Got to Give.

But in other ways, it seemed like the bleakest of times for model-turned-Hollywood star. She had divorced her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller, the year prior, there were rumors about an alleged affair between her and President John F. Kennedy Jr., and her normally picture-perfect appearances had been replaced with nails in need of a manicure and pedicure.

On August 6, 1962, 36 year-old Monroe was found dead in her home at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, estimated to have died six to eight hours prior on August 5. She had a phone receiver in her hand and was lying face down without any clothes on. By her side was an empty pill bottle that had held 50 capsules of Nembutal, a drug often used as a sleeping pill.

The shocking tragic ending to Monroe’s rise to glory from abandoned childhood to movie star royalty was a real-life Cinderella story…theories still abound about what may have actually led to her passing in her final days.

Chang, Rachel – Marilyn Monroe: Inside Her Final Days and Fragile State of Mind, Biography.com

20. What is the meaning of the phrase “A Cinderella story”?