Reading Comprehension

PT2 · S1 · P4 · Q22 War Powers Resolution

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The Constitution of the United States does not explicitly define the extent of the President’s authority to involve United States troops in conflicts with other nations in the absence of a declaration of war.

Your task

Pin down exactly what the question asks about the passage — a detail, the author's view, the structure, or the main point — before looking at the choices.

Common trap

Answers that restate a true detail from the passage but don't answer the specific question being asked.

Winning move

Anticipate the answer in your own words from the passage, then find the choice that matches that prediction.

22.

In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with

showing how the Vietnam conflict
Too Narrow
As soon as we see Vietnam is the star of this answer, we'd bail. The main topic was not Vietnam. It may have been the causal difference-maker that was the catalyst for the War Powers Resolution, but the latter is the focus of the passage. Also, the WPR is not meant to represent a new interpretation of the Constitution. The end of P1 stresses that the WPR allows Congress to reclaim the role the Constitution envisioned for it.
10% picked this
Correct
arguing that the War Powers
Why this is right
This actually matches very well with our Most Valuable Sentence at the end of paragraph 1. The verb "usurped" might sound a little too accusatory, but you can read that verb in its purely descriptive context: to take over a role from someone who is the rightful holder of that role. Since Presidents were essentially taking over the role of declaring war, which belongs to Congress, it's a fair description of what had been happening prior to the WPR.
Skill tested: Primary Purpose · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
66% picked this
outlining the history of the
Wrong Emphasis
It's definitely a red flag that this answer doesn't address our main character, the War Powers Resolution. There is a lot of history outlined, and there is tension between the President and Congress, but are they struggling for control of the military? Congress isn't trying to control the military. They just want to be consulted when the President sends troops into conflict.
14% picked this
providing examples of conflicts inherent
Wrong Emphasis
This answer makes it sound like the passage was a Theme / Example affair, and the concurrent powers surrounding declaration of war was just one example of that theme. But the passage is entirely about the concurrent powers surrounding declaration of war and how the War Powers Resolution (conspicuously not mentioned by this answer!) helped to restore those.
4% picked this
explaining how the War Powers
Opposite (if anything)
The passage explains how the WPR upholds the Constitution's desire to maintain an overlap of authority.
6% picked this

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