IV. Read the passage and answer the questions that follow.

The Woodstock Music and Art Fair—better known to its participants and to history simply as “Woodstock”—should have been a colossal failure. Just a month prior to its August 15, 1969 opening, the council of Wallkill, New York, informed the fair’s organizers that it was withdrawing its permission to hold the festival.

Amazingly, the organizers found a new site, a large field in Woodstock, New York, owned by a local dairy farmer. Word spread to the public of the fair’s new location. The event drew a larger audience than the organizers had expected. On the first day of the fair, crowd estimates of 30,000 kept rising; traffic jams blocked most roads leading to the area. Some musicians could not reach the site to appear at their scheduled times. In addition, fences that were supposed to facilitate ticket collection never materialized, so the organizers abandoned all attempts at taking tickets.

But that was not all: as the large crowd gathered, so did summer storm clouds. It started raining on opening night and continued for much of the three-day event. To deal with the crowd, which reached an estimated 500,000 by the third day, helicopters flew in food, doctors, and medical supplies.

Despite all of its problems, the festival featured some of the greatest musicians of the 1960s, including Janis Joplin; Joan Baez; Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young; Sly and the Family Stone; Creedence Clearwater Revival; and Jimi Hendrix. Today many people think of Woodstock not only as a milestone for rock music but as the defining moment for an entire generation.

1. The main idea of this passage is best expressed in which sentence?

a. Most Americans think of Woodstock as a bunch of kids dancing to music in the mud.

b. The organizers underestimated how many people the festival would attract.

c. Despite poor planning, Woodstock was a success and a high point for a generation of Americans.

d. The organizers succeeded in their goal of creating a historically significant event.

2. What was the final crowd estimate?

a. 20,000

b. 30,000

c. 50,000

d. 500,000

3. Which of the following was NOT a problem faced by the event’s organizers?

a. blocked access to the site

b. attracting musical talent

c. bad weather

d. finding a location for the festival

4. The phrase defining moment in paragraph 4 could best be replaced by which word or phrase?

a. symbol

b. belief

c. anecdote

d. fun time

5. Where in the passage does the author describe the weather conditions during the event?

a. at the end of paragraph 2

b. at the beginning of paragraph 3

c. at the end of paragraph 3

d. at the beginning of paragraph 4

6. The word facilitate in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

a. make easier.

b. make more difficult.

c. build a facility.

d. increase.

7. What does the author mean by the statement the Woodstock Music and Art Fair should have been a colossal failure?

a. Woodstock should not have happened.

b. Woodstock was a financial failure because the orga-

nizers did not collect tickets.

c. When you mix dairy farmers with young rock fans, you are asking for trouble.

d. The large crowd and other problems could easily have resulted in a crisis.

8. The passage suggests that

a. a free concert would never happen today.

b. area residents thought the rock fans were weird.

c. the impact of the event exceeded expectations.

d. music brings people together in a way other art forms cannot.