Question

Matthew is writing a report about life during the Great Depression. He is collecting information about Americans’ lives during the Great Depression from many different sources. One will be an interview with his great-grandmother, who was a child during the Depression. Which question would Matthew's great-grandmother most likely be helpful in answering?A) What percentage of Americans was out of work during the Depression? B) How many points did the stock market fall during the Great Depression? C) What types of things did most people have to go without during the Depression? D) What laws were instrumental in setting up the Great Depression?

Answer 1

The types of things most people had to go without during the Depression (C) is where Matthew's great-grandmother is most likely to help.

The reason this is the only right answer is that we are told that she was a child in the early 1930s, at the time of the Great Depression. A child's perception of her living conditions is based on memories of what she felt or did. But she was too young to know:

• how many Americans were unemployed at the time (A), and presumably did not understand very well what a "percentage" meant;
• similarly, a child is too young to grasp what "stock market points" represent (B);
• and finally, she probably was not aware of the laws which led to the crisis (D).

However, it is possible for a child to remember the things she was missing in her life because of the difficult economic situation. That is why Matthew's great-grandmother will most likely be able to answer question C.