Question

When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965, he used fifty pens, handing them out as souvenirs to a joyous gathering in the President's Room of the Capitol, where Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. When President Reagan signed an extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1982, he spoke affectionately of the "right to vote," signed with a single pen, then concluded the four-minute ceremony by rising from his desk, announcing, "It's done." If the passage above is true, which of the following is most probably true? A. The Voting Rights Act did not require an extension. B. The Voting Rights Act is not significantly related to the Emancipation Proclamation. C. President Reagan saw himself as more like Lincoln than did Johnson. D. President Reagan did not regard the extension of the act as an occasion for fanfare. E. President Reagan objected strenuously to an extension of the Voting Rights Act.

Short answer

D. President Reagan did not regard the extension of the act as an occasion for fanfare.

Step-by-step solution

Reading the passage carefully

The passage talks about how two different Presidents, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan, handled the signing of the Voting Rights Act and its extension. Johnson signed the act with fanfare, while Reagan did it with less pomp and pageantry.

Analysing the choices

Now it's time to analyse each choice one by one. Compare the statement given with what has been inferred from the reading: \n\nA. The passage implies nothing about the need for an extension of the Voting Rights Act. So this can't be the answer. \n\nB. The passage does not make any explicit connections or comparisons between the Voting Rights Act and the Emancipation Proclamation; it merely states that both events occurred in the same venue. \n\nC. This statement is purely speculative and is not suggested or inferred anywhere in the passage. \n\nD. This statement aligns with what we have inferred from the text. Reagan signed the bill without extraneous ceremony, suggesting a lack of a desire for fanfare. \n\nE. This statement is contradicted by the text as Reagan signed the extension, so he did not object malevolently to it.

Making a conclusion

After analysing each choice, it would appear that choice D is the most correct. It captures the contrast between Johnson’s ceremony filled with display and Reagan's modest ceremony when extending the same act.