Directions: Mark each sentence with an F (fact), O (opinion), or B (both).
1. Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase doubled the territory of the United States, extending it to the Rocky Mountains.
2. His appetite for expansion whetted by the Louisiana Purchase, President James Polk encouraged Texas to make the Rio Grande river the border of Texas although Polk knew full well that the U.S. had no right to invade Mexican territory.
3. In 1869, Dmitri Mendeleev predicted the chemical and physical properties of the element gallium, which he called eka-aluminum.
4. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act denied the Chinese entry into the United States; it also denied citizenship to those Chinese already living in the United States. This was a clear case of legalized racism.
5. Plants are called autotrophic because they create their own food.
6. Victor Emmanuel II was the first king to rule over a united Italy; he was also a madman, who had his toenail clippings edged in gold and encrusted in diamonds. Then he would give the clippings to palace favorites.
7. In 1943, the extraordinary Jacques Cousteau invented an improved diving suit that allowed divers to descend 500 feet below the surface of the ocean; nowadays, that suit is usually referred to as a scuba suit.
8. Richard Rodriguez writes movingly about his personal struggle to honor his Spanish-speaking parents and still excel at speaking English.
9. Evidence of bribery has tarnished the reputation of the International Olympic Committee in charge of selecting sites for the winter and summer Olympics.
10. Frida Kahlo, the wife of famed painter Diego Rivera, was a much better painter than her husband.
Last change made to this page: Jan. 8, 2007