AnswersTX-English III - BISD BA Look at the Fast-Food Industry by Eric Schlosser

The Poetry of Physics Answers

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Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation. “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. Jobs that have been “de-skilled” can be filled cheaply. The need to retain any individual worker is greatly reduced by the ease with which he or she can be replaced.Which best describes the type of evidence presented in this excerpt?

A
analogical
B
anecdotal
C
statistical
D
testimonial
2
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Which excerpt from Fast Food Nation best states a reason supporting the author’s claim that fast food restaurants follow the assembly line model?

A
Once an order has been placed, buttons light up and suggest other menu items that can be added.
B
At Burger King restaurants, frozen hamburger patties are placed on a conveyer belt and emerge from a broiler ninety seconds later fully cooked.
C
The McDonald’s operations manual today has ten times the number of pages and weighs about four pounds.
D
Teenagers open the fast food outlets in the morning, close them at night, and keep them going at all hours in between.
3

Which excerpt from Fast Food Nation best illustrates the use of the rhetorical appeal pathos?

A
Teenagers have long provided the fast food industry with the bulk of its workforce.
B
The strict regimentation at fast food restaurants creates standardized products.
C
Although Richard and Mac McDonald introduced the division of labor to the restaurant business, it was a McDonald’s executive named Fred Turner who created a production system of unusual thoroughness and attention to detail.
D
But the stance of the fast food industry on issues involving employee training, the minimum wage, labor unions, and overtime pay strongly suggests that its motives in hiring the young, the poor, and the handicapped are hardly altruistic.
4

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation. The labor practices of the fast food industry have their origins in the assembly line systems adopted by American manufacturers in the early twentieth century. Business historian Alfred D. Chandler has argued that a high rate of “throughput” was the most important aspect of these mass production systems. A factory’s throughput is the speed and volume of its flow—a much more crucial measurement, according to Chandler, than the number of workers it employs or the value of its machinery. Which of the following choices best describes the evidence used in this excerpt?

A
An expert’s opinion provides historical background of an important concept.
B
An expert’s viewpoint presents a counterclaim to the author’s argument.
C
Statistical and factual evidence prove the author’s claim.
D
Personal experience creates persuasive, emotional appeal.
5

In Fast Food Nation, the best reason that the author offers for the fast-food industry’s strict regimen for productivity is that

A
once an order is placed, glowing buttons suggest other menu items.
B
company operation manuals can be updated more often.
C
it gives the companies power over their employees.
D
flashing lights can help tell employees what to do.
6

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation. EVERY SATURDAY, ELISA ZAMOT gets up at 5:15 in the morning. It’s a struggle, and her head feels groggy as she steps into the shower. Her little sisters, Cookie and Sabrina, are fast asleep in their beds. By 5:30, Elisa’s showered, done her hair, and put on her McDonald’s uniform. She’s sixteen, bright-eyed and olive-skinned, pretty and petite, ready for another day of work. Elisa’s mother usually drives her the half-mile or so to the restaurant, but sometimes Elisa walks, leaving home before the sun rises. Which of the following choices best describes the rhetorical appeal used in this excerpt?

A
The excerpt demonstrates logos because it is completely objective and lacking in emotion.
B
The excerpt demonstrates logos because it contains statistics to support the author’s claim.
C
The excerpt demonstrates ethos because the author positions himself as an expert on the topic.
D
The excerpt demonstrates pathos because the author presents a compelling story using emotional language.
7

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

A
The fast food industry’s obsession with throughput has altered the way millions of Americans work, turned commercial kitchens into small factories, and changed familiar foods into commodities that are manufactured.
B
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.
C
Although Richard and Mac McDonald introduced the division of labor to the restaurant business, it was a McDonald’s executive named Fred Turner who created a production system of unusual thoroughness and attention to detail.
D
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.
8

Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation. At Taco Bell restaurants the food is “assembled,” not prepared. The guacamole isn’t made by workers in the kitchen; it’s made at a factory in Michoacán, Mexico, then frozen and shipped north. The chain’s taco meat arrives frozen and precooked in vacuum-sealed plastic bags. The beans are dehydrated and look like brownish corn flakes. The cooking process is fairly simple. “Everything’s add water,” a Taco Bell employee told me. “Just add hot water.”The Taco Bell employee’s quote supports Schlosser’s argument in this excerpt because it

A
provides personal opinions about the working conditions in fast food restaurants.
B
helps the reader visualize teenagers working in fast food restaurants.
C
provides expert testimony about the nutritional quality of fast food.
D
emphasizes the obsession with consistency and standardization in the fast food industry.
9

The author of Fast Food Nation claims that the fast-food industry prefers to employ teenagers. How does the author best support this claim?

A
by providing evidence that teenagers are the bulk of the workforce in America because many still live at home
B
by providing the counterclaim that teenagers typically leave behind their first jobs at fast-food chains for better opportunities
C
by providing evidence that teenagers are better at smiling and promoting the increased size of an order
D
by providing specific reasons why teenagers are ideal candidates, such as their acceptance of lower wages
10

Which excerpt from Fast Food Nation best illustrates the use of the rhetorical appeal logos?

A
Teenagers open the fast food outlets in the morning, close them at night, and keep them going at all hours in between.
B
Elisa’s mother usually drives her the half-mile or so to the restaurant, but sometimes Elisa walks, leaving home before the sun rises.
C
The labor practices of the fast food industry have their origins in the assembly line systems adopted by American manufacturers in the early twentieth century.
D
Fast food kitchens often seem like a scene from Bugsy Malone, a film in which all the actors are children pretending to be adults.

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