EL COLEGIO DE MICHOACN, A.C.

Unidad de Idiomas

READING COMPREHENSION EXERCISE LEVEL 2 THE U.S.A.: 1945-THE PRESENT

Of the Western powers, only the United States emerged from World War II virtually unscathed
materially. The war had put billions of dollars into circulation, ended the long depression, and destroyed
much of the nations foreign competition. The end of the war found big business and a high-spending
military machine in close alliance and firmly entrenched. For most of the three decades after 1945, the
U.S. enjoyed great economic prosperity. The pinnacle of prosperity came in the early and mid-sixties.
Under presidents Kennedy and Johnson, the government pursued liberal policies of social reform to
attack poverty, implement new educational programs, build low-income housing, and increase
government support for medical services. These policies put the U.S. more in line with other Western
nations that had already established such social and welfare state institutions. However, the expansion
of new social programs and unquestioned prosperity would come to an end in the 1970s and 80s with
new economic and political problems. Indeed, underlying the prosperity and confidence of the decades
after World War II were a series of problems that often resulted in anxiety, unrest, fear, and violence.
The first problem for Americans was the Soviet Union and communism; the so-called Cold War.
From the very beginning of the postwar era, Americans feared the Soviet Union and communism. Many
journalists, military leaders, politicians, and business and professional people exploited this fear. During
the early 1950s, Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin fanned this fear into hysteria. In the eyes of
McCarthy and his millions of followers, the American government, defense industries, armed forces, and
educational system had been infiltrated by Communists and their fellow travelers.
In 1957, just as McCarthyism was subsiding, the American people were shocked by the news that
the Soviet Union had orbited a satellite: Sputnik. The implication was that the lean, eager Russians had
forged ahead in nuclear weapons and delivery systems while the soft, contented Americans had slept. Of
course, the U.S. had for some time been working on a satellite of its own and in 1958 successfully orbited
one. In 1961, the Soviet Union and the United States sent men into space and began to race each other
to the moon. This race was won by the United States in 1969 at a cost of some $40 billion.
Americans were strongly concerned over repeated Communist successes in Asia while, closer to
home, the Communist takeover of Cuba in 1959 caused grave anxiety. The Cuban rebel leader, Fidel
Castro, overthrew an American-supported rightist dictatorship. In 1961, the American government
encouraged and aided an unsuccessful attempt by Cuban refugees to overthrow the Castro regime and
the following year, by heavy threats, forced the Soviet Union to dismantle the missile bases it had
constructed in Cuba. This was the most frightening of all the confrontations between the two nuclear
powers, both of which had sufficient nuclear capacity to destroy all the people on Earth.
Americas next problem was the long-festering failure to integrate its large Black population. By
1945, Afro-Americans numbered some 20 million about a tenth of the total population and although
considerable advancement in material wellbeing and social equality had been made, the gains fell far
short of the promise. THE CURVE OF EXPECTATION WAS RISING FASTER THAN THE CURVE OF ACHIEVEMENT. Black
veterans returning from World War II were particularly frustrated. In 1954, the Supreme Court outlawed
segregation in the public schools and later specified forced busing as a means of implementing the
decision. In the following years, the civil rights movement was born, as Blacks struggled for greater
equality within American society. White resistance varied in close proportion to the number of Blacks in
the affected population: resistance flared up first in the Deep South and later in the large industrial cities
of the North. Federal troops and marshals were used to overcome white resistance in the South. Millions
of whites in the large northern industrial cities fled to the suburbs, leaving many cities primarily black. In
1964, Congress passed civil rights acts that guaranteed voting rights and broadly outlawed racial
discrimination. Nevertheless, this legislation did not end the turmoil that had been unleashed. Riots
occurred in major cities in the 1960s, reaching a climax in 1968 following the assassination of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr., the most prominent of the Black leaders.
In the 70s and 80s, the position of Blacks in U.S. society evolved but the record is mixed. On the one
hand, the elevation of many Afro-Americans to positions of political leadership and the growing numbers
of Blacks in middle class jobs and residential areas indicate important change. On the other, Blacks
remain over-represented in the growing core of inner-city unemployed who live below the poverty line.
Violence was by no means limited to the Blacks or to the United States. During the decade of the
1960s, youths all over the world were in revolt. However, violence and the crime rate were higher in the
United States than in any other country, and were constantly increasing. President Kennedy was
assassinated in 1963 and his brother, Robert, a major candidate for the Democratic presidential
nomination, in 1968. College and university students staged protests, which often turned violent. Among
the factors contributing to this unrest were continued racial inequality, widespread poverty alongside
great wealth, inflation, wasteful destruction of natural resources, and growing dissatisfaction with
American involvement in the war in Vietnam.
While some of these problems became less immediate in the 70s, new ones arose. In 1974,
confidence in the American political system was shaken by the Watergate scandal, which revealed
widespread misconduct and crimes in the highest levels of President Nixons administration. Numerous
high officials in the Nixon administration were forced to resign and were convicted and imprisoned. In
August 1974, after it had become obvious that the president would be IMPEACHED by the full House and
convicted by the Senate, Nixon resigned. He was succeeded by Gerald Ford, a conservative Republican
leader who granted Nixon full pardon for all crimes he may have committed while in office.
At almost the same time, economic problems stemming from the cost of the Vietnam War, from an
unfavorable balance of trade, from growing inflation, and from the fourfold increase of oil prices
between 1973 and 1974 began to catch up with the United States. The country was entering a new
period of declining growth rates, increasing unemployment, and rising prices; indeed, it was losing its
dominance in the world marketplace.
In 1976, Ford was narrowly defeated by Jimmy Carter, but Carters administration confronted
spiraling inflation, a threatened fuel shortage, a high rate of unemployment (particularly among Blacks
and youths), a sense of disillusionment over the Vietnam War and its end, and broad distrust of all levels
of government; difficult problems that were never solved. The Carter administration was further
burdened with trying to free American hostages from a hostile Iran, and a new rise of oil prices.
In 1980, Ronald Reagan and the Republican party were elected to power and initiated a series of
conservative policies in an attempt to undo several of the liberal reforms of the previous decades:
defense spending increased; a harsher line was taken toward communism; American arms and forces
were sent to several areas around the world; workers and the unemployed were attacked, and tax
reforms that benefited mainly corporations, the wealthy, and the middle class were enacted. The
recession that began in the late 1970s deepened, with unemployment figures higher than in any years
since the Great Depression of the 1930s. After 1983, the economy began to recover, but the relative
prosperity was acquired at the cost of enormous governmental deficits. In 1988, George Bush was
elected president, promising to maintain the conservative policies of the Reagan administration.
A Short History of Western Civilization (Part Twelve: Global independence
in the Contemporary World, 1945-Present)
by Harrison, Sullivan and Sherman; McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, 1990



EXERCISES:
A.- Read the text and then indicate if these statements are TRUE (T) or FALSE (F).

1. After World War II the United States enjoyed great economic prosperity. T F
2. Under presidents Kennedy and Johnson liberal policies of social reform were pursued. T F
3. Senator Joseph McCarthy was a champion of communism. T F
4. In 1957, the United States launched the first satellite in history. T F
5. In 1961, the United States was the only country that had sent a man into space. T F
6. In 1962, the United States forced the Soviet Union to dismantle its missile bases in Cuba. T F
7. By 1945, the Black population in the United States numbered 15 million. T F
8. Congress guaranteed voting rights for Blacks and outlawed racial discrimination in 1964. T F
9. In 1968, Martin Luther King became a senator. T F
10. During the 1980s there were no Blacks unemployed in the U.S.A. T F
11. American involvement in the Vietnam War was very popular in the U.S.A. T F
12. During the Carter administration (1976-80), there was high inflation and unemployment. T F
13. Reagans presidency initiated programs to protect nature, workers and the unemployed. T F
14. When elected president, Bush promised to maintain Reagan administration policies. T F
15. From the 1960s-1980s there were more Republican presidents than Democrats. T F

B.- Multiple choice: indicate the best answer according to the information in the text.

1.- What period is described as of greatest prosperity?
a) the 1950s.
b) the 1960s.
c) the 1970s.
d) the 1980s.

6.- This term refers to the rivalry between the U.S.A.
and the Soviet Union from the 50s to the 90s
a) The Cold War.
b) The War of Vietnam.
c) World War II.
d) The Cuban Missile Crisis.

2.- What does THE CURVE OF EXPECTATION WAS RISING FASTER
THAN THE CURVE OF ACHIEVEMENT (paragraph 6) mean?
a) People had unreal or exaggerated expectations.
b) Reality didnt correspond to peoples hopes.
c) Achievements exceeded expectations.
d) Results were better than people expected.

7.- Before the Civil Rights decisions by the Supreme
Court (1954) and Congress (1964), Blacks were
a) segregated in different public schools from whites.
b) not guaranteed the right to vote.
c) subject to severe racial discrimination.
d) all of the above.

3.- Who was President of the U.S.A. from 1974-1976?
a) Gerald Ford.
b) Jimmy Carter.
c) Ronald Reagan.
d) Richard Nixon.

8.- Of these men, who was NEVER president of the U.S.?
a) Nixon
b) McCarthy
c) Ford
d) Carter

4.- Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a problem
for the Carter administration?
a) spiraling inflation
b) high unemployment
c) distrust of government
d) increased defense spending

9.- The word IMPEACHED (paragraph 9) means:
a) remove an elected official from office.
b) convict of criminal activity.
c) sanction.
d) sentence to imprisonment.

5.- What event caused people to MISTRUST the American
political system?
a) The War in Vietnam.
b) The assassination of President Kennedy.
c) The American hostages in Iran.
d) The Watergate scandal.

10.- What does only the United States emerged from
World War II virtually unscathed materially mean?
a) The U.S. did not suffer the loss of many soldiers.
b) The U.S. was not responsible for World War II.
c) The U.S. did not participate in World War II.
d) The war did not ruin U.S. industries and economy.



C.- Consult your dictionary and write the meaning of the following words from the text:

1. unscathed ______________________________________________________________________________

2. entrenched ________________________________________________________________________

3. low-income ________________________________________________________________________

4. underlying ______________________________________________________________________________

5. journalists ________________________________________________________________________

6. successes ________________________________________________________________________

7. encouraged ______________________________________________________________________________

8. festering ________________________________________________________________________

9. overcome ________________________________________________________________________

10. turmoil ________________________________________________________________________

11. unleashed ________________________________________________________________________

12. widespread ______________________________________________________________________________

13. fourfold ________________________________________________________________________

14. burdened ________________________________________________________________________

15. hostages ________________________________________________________________________