An Enlightenment Guide to Winning the Lottery (Reading)

Click the link below for the reading passage:

An Enlightenment Guide to Winning the Lottery

1) It can be inferred that Francois-Marie Arouet had problems with:

A) authority
B) investments
C) insurance
D) publicity


2) The word "pen-name" in paragraph 2 (line 3) is closest in meaning to:

A) pseudonym
B) title
C) designation
D) nomenclature


3) The word "panacea" in paragraph 2 (line 5) is closest in meaning to:

A) solution
B) idea
C) pledge
D) remedy


4) What decision caused the French government to suffer economic problems?

A) Issuing bonds
B) Raising money
C) Cutting interest rates
D) Avoiding credit


5) The sentence "Condamine realized that a group of people could buy up a lot of cut-price bonds, split them into tiny parcels of 1,000 livres, buy up cheap lottery tickets, and thus easily win the huge jackpot," (paragraph 6) can best be paraphrased as:

A) As a result of purchasing lottery tickets cheaply and splitting bonds, Condamine realized he could win the lottery.
B) The lottery could be won by dividing cheap bonds into smaller parts which allowed the purchase of bargain lottery tickets.
C) Condamine devised a scheme by which the jackpot could easily be won.
D) The mathematician's plan was to cut large bonds into diminutive shares and purchasing prize tickets.


6) The word "understanding" in paragraph 7 (line 9) is closest in meaning to:

A) plan
B) agreement
C) involvement
D) piracy


7) Voltaire and Condamine's scheme was uncovered because:

A) Voltaire always went to collect the money.
B) Voltaire was not creative enough with the names he signed.
C) The number of lottery tickets being sold was unreasonable.
D) Condamine made a mathematical error.


8) Which of the following was NOT a consequence of the inquiry into the lottery scandal?

A) The lottery was shut down.
B) The finance minister was fired.
C) Ticket sales stopped during the proceedings.
D) Voltaire was allowed to keep his money.


9) Why does the author mention Micromegas (paragraph 14)?

A) To illustrate to problems Voltaire caused with his wealth.
B) To explain why he fought with Frederick the Great.
C) To show why he was banned from Paris.
D) To provide an example of one of Voltaire's achievements.


10) Which of the following best summarize the topic (Choose three answers)?

A) Voltaire used his winnings to support his writing career, allowing him to become one of the greatest French authors of all time.

B) The French government concluded that nothing illegal had occurred.

C) One of the key problems they faced with the fact that only a few notaries were allowed to issue lottery tickets.

D) Condamine's plan involved purchasing cheap lottery tickets through small bonds.

E) Voltaire struggled early in his writing career due to a lack of finances and disagreements with the aristocracy.

F) Condamine and Voltaire orchestrated a scheme to win the lottery.