Pretest Answers

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . The strict regimentation at fast food restaurants creates standardized products. It increases the throughput. And it gives fast food companies an enormous amount of power over their employees. “When management determines exactly how every task is to be done . . . and can impose its own rules about pace, output, quality, and technique,” the sociologist Robin Leidner has noted, “[it] makes workers increasingly interchangeable.” The management no longer depends upon the talents or skills of its workers—those things are built into the operating system and machines. The testimonial evidence in this excerpt is effective because it

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . The strict regimentation at fast food restaurants creates standardized products. It increases the throughput. And it gives fast food companies an enormous amount of power over their employees. “When management determines exactly how every task is to be done . . . and can impose its own rules about pace, output, quality, and technique,” the sociologist Robin Leidner has noted, “[it] makes workers increasingly interchangeable.” Which type of evidence is Schlosser using in this excerpt?

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . At Burger King restaurants, frozen hamburger patties are placed on a conveyer belt and emerge from a broiler ninety seconds later fully cooked. The ovens at Pizza Hut and at Domino’s also use conveyer belts to ensure standardized cooking times. The ovens at McDonald’s look like commercial laundry presses, with big steel hoods that swing down and grill hamburgers on both sides at once. The burgers, chicken, french fries, and buns are all frozen when they arrive at a McDonald’s. The evidence presented here supports the author’s claim that fast food restaurants are like factories because the excerpt

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . Unlike Olympic gymnastics—an activity in which teenagers consistently perform at a higher level than adults—there’s nothing about the work in a fast food kitchen that requires young employees. Which type of evidence does the author use in this excerpt?

Which excerpt from Fast Food Nation best states the author’s overall claim?

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . The restaurant opens for business at seven o’clock, and for the next hour or so, Elisa and the manager hold down the fort, handling all the orders. As the place starts to get busy, other employees arrive. Elisa works behind the counter. She takes orders and hands food to customers from breakfast through lunch. Which type of evidence does Schlosser use in this excerpt?

Which excerpt from Fast Food Nation best states a reason supporting the author’s claim that fast food restaurants follow the assembly line model?

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . Cooking instructions are not only printed in the manual, they are often designed into the machines. A McDonald’s kitchen is full of buzzers and flashing lights that tell employees what to do. The evidence presented in this excerpt best supports the author’s claim that

Which of the following pieces of evidence from Fast Food Nation best supports the author’s claim that teenagers are the ideal candidates for working in the fast food industry?

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . Instead of relying upon a small, stable, well-paid, and well-trained workforce, the fast food industry seeks out part-time, unskilled workers who are willing to accept low pay. Teenagers have been the perfect candidates for these jobs, not only because they are less expensive to hire than adults, but also because their youthful inexperience makes them easier to control. In this excerpt, Schlosser claims that fast food restaurants are