Getting To The Supreme Court

On Commonlit

1.) PART A: Which of the following best identifies the central idea of the text?

A.)Most people are educated on the workings of the Supreme Court because the expectations for the Court’s roles are clearly defined in The Constitution.

B.) Supreme Court justices are incredibly powerful since they are appointed for life and rule on the country's most important cases.

C.) The Supreme Court plays an important role in the country’s government because it takes cases that were never presented in court before.

D.)For a very long time, Presidents chose Supreme Court nominees based only on their political views, but this has changed recently.

2.) PART B: Which section from the text best supports the answer to Part A?

A.) “They announce their decisions periodically, then disappear into their ‘Marble Palace.’” ( Paragraph 1)

B.)“Why are venerable former justices, such as John Marshall, sources of guidance in understanding necessary qualities for federal judges?” ( Paragraph 4)

C.) “Still, many vacancies do occur during a president’s term of office, and the rarest and most important of these are the seats on the Supreme Court.” ( Paragraph 8)

D.) “Presidents usually appoint judges who seem to have a similar political ideology to their own. In other words, a president with a liberal ideology will usually appoint liberals to the courts.” ( Paragraph 10)

3.) PART A: What does the word “concurring” most closely mean in paragraph 18?

A.) sharing an opinion

B.) to have different motivations

C.) critical of other’s opinions

D.) sarcastic in a cruel way

4.) PART B: Which detail from paragraph 18 best supports the answer to Part A?

A.) “the justices release explanations for each side”

B.) “A majority opinion is prepared (usually by the senior justice on that side)”

C.) “the justices whose point of view did not prevail release a dissenting opinion.”

D.) “A justice who agrees with the majority decision but for different reasons”