The Importance of Muhammad Ali [Abridged] Readworks Answers.
1. What sport did Muhammad Ali (also known as Cassius Clay) pursue as his career?
A. Boxing
2. What does the first paragraph of the text mostly describe?
A. the typical jobs and career expectations of African Americans during the 1940s
3. Read these sentences from the text.
“On April 28, 1967, citing his religious beliefs, he refused induction into the United States Army at the height of the war in Vietnam. Ali’s refusal followed a blunt statement, voiced fourteen months earlier: ‘I ain’t got no quarrel with them Vietcong.’ And the American establishment responded with a vengeance, demanding, ‘Since when did war become a matter of personal quarrels? War is duty. Your country calls; you answer.’”
Based on this evidence, what can you conclude about Ali’s sense of duty?
A. Ali felt a strong duty to his own personal beliefs.
4. Based on the information in the text, which action of Ali’s was probably the most controversial among both blacks and whites?
C. joining the Nation of Islam and accepting its teachings of black separatism
5. What is the main idea of this text?
B. Muhammad Ali is an important figure not just because of his success in boxing, but also because of his refusal to back down from his principles.
6. Read these sentences from the text.
“Ali downplayed his role. ‘I’m not no leader. I’m a little humble follower,’ he said in 1964. But for millions of people, the experience of being black changed because of Muhammad Ali.”
Why might the author have included this quote from Muhammad Ali?
D. to indicate that Ali was a leader even though he did not actively choose to be one
7. Choose the answer that best completes the sentence.
When Ali appeared on the scene in the 1960s, it was popular among those in the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement to take the “safe,” nonthreatening path. _________, Ali preached not “white American values,” but freedom and equality of a kind rarely seen anywhere in the world.
B. in contrast
8. Why did Ali refuse to fight in the Vietnam War?
Answer - He refused to fight in the Vietnam War because of his religious beliefs. Students may also note that he refused to fight because he did not have a personal problem with the Vietcong.
9. How did Muhammad Ali’s actions challenge the “status quo” of mainstream white America? Use at least one example from the text to support your answer.
Answer - Ali refused to fight in the Vietnam War, challenging "the system" of the American government. Ali also joined the Nation of Islam, a group that was "despised by mainstream America".
10. Read this sentence from the text.
“By the late 1960s, Ali had become a living embodiment of the proposition that principles matter.”
How did Muhammad Ali demonstrate that principles matter in his life? Use at least two examples from the text to support your answer.
Answer - He clearly did not think the war in Vietnam was (or should have been) his personal duty, so he refused to fight, even though he was sentenced to jail and barred from boxing. He also preached the beliefs of black separatism and resistance to white dominance, even though he was not only challenging mainstream white American values but also the ideals of the vanguard of the Civil Rights Movement.