UNITED STATES ACADEMIC DECATHLON
PRACTICE COMPREHENSIVE SCRIPT 2026
FULL ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ Hemingway, Ernest.
Answer: a renowned writer and leading light of the Lost Generation of
expat American writers, known for his sparse prose.
⩥ Holmes, Oliver Wendell Jr..
Answer: a Supreme Court Justice who authored a landmark opinion
restricting First Amendment protections during national emergencies
(Schenck v. United States) and a ruling that upheld Virginia's eugenics-
inspired involuntary sterilization statute.
⩥ Hoover, Herbert.
Answer: a successful mining engineer and humanitarian who served as
Commerce Secretary from 1921 to 1929 before becoming U.S. President
in 1929; his presidency from 1929 to 1933 was dogged by a mounting
economic crisis.
⩥ Hoover, J. Edgar.
Answer: the virulently anti-Communist head of the BOI and FBI, who
expanded the agency's domestic surveillance program to target a wide
range of suspected subversives.
,⩥ Hoovervilles.
Answer: sardonic slang term for the shantytowns that sprung up across
the United States, as destitute Americans felt the sting of the deepening
depression.
⩥ Immigration Restriction League (IRL).
Answer: an influential nativist organization whose members included
many distinguished elites, including Harvard University's president.
⩥ Installment buying.
Answer: the practice of buying an item 'on credit,' which allowed
consumers to take home a variety of goods with a small down payment
followed by monthly payments that included accrued interest.
⩥ International Workers of the World (IWW; 'Wobblies').
Answer: a radical labor union that embraced wildcat strikes and
advocated revolution; IWW leaders and members became targets of law
enforcement and governmental surveillance during the Red Scare.
⩥ Irreconcilables.
Answer: a congressional faction, including hardcore isolationists, that
was committed to voting against the Treaty of Versailles.
, ⩥ Jazz.
Answer: a popular musical genre known for syncopated rhythms and
improvisation that originated among African-American musicians in
New Orleans, Louisiana, and quickly spread throughout the nation and
the world in the 1920s.
⩥ Jim Crow.
Answer: a term used to refer to the legal and social restrictions placed on
African Americans and more generally to the widespread practice of
racial segregation throughout the Southern United States.
⩥ Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924.
Answer: Also referred to as the Quota Act or the National Origins Act,
this immigration restriction measure set a numerical quota for all nations
pegged to each nation's share of the U.S. population in 1890.
⩥ Jones, Bobby.
Answer: American golf champion who helped popularize the sport with
his impressive run of victories in major championships in the 1920s.
⩥ Kahn, Albert.
Answer: architect who designed Henry Ford's Highland Park factory that
emphasized natural light and housed an elaborate mechanical system of
conveyors, pulleys, and cranes to facilitate the mass production of
automobiles.
PRACTICE COMPREHENSIVE SCRIPT 2026
FULL ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ Hemingway, Ernest.
Answer: a renowned writer and leading light of the Lost Generation of
expat American writers, known for his sparse prose.
⩥ Holmes, Oliver Wendell Jr..
Answer: a Supreme Court Justice who authored a landmark opinion
restricting First Amendment protections during national emergencies
(Schenck v. United States) and a ruling that upheld Virginia's eugenics-
inspired involuntary sterilization statute.
⩥ Hoover, Herbert.
Answer: a successful mining engineer and humanitarian who served as
Commerce Secretary from 1921 to 1929 before becoming U.S. President
in 1929; his presidency from 1929 to 1933 was dogged by a mounting
economic crisis.
⩥ Hoover, J. Edgar.
Answer: the virulently anti-Communist head of the BOI and FBI, who
expanded the agency's domestic surveillance program to target a wide
range of suspected subversives.
,⩥ Hoovervilles.
Answer: sardonic slang term for the shantytowns that sprung up across
the United States, as destitute Americans felt the sting of the deepening
depression.
⩥ Immigration Restriction League (IRL).
Answer: an influential nativist organization whose members included
many distinguished elites, including Harvard University's president.
⩥ Installment buying.
Answer: the practice of buying an item 'on credit,' which allowed
consumers to take home a variety of goods with a small down payment
followed by monthly payments that included accrued interest.
⩥ International Workers of the World (IWW; 'Wobblies').
Answer: a radical labor union that embraced wildcat strikes and
advocated revolution; IWW leaders and members became targets of law
enforcement and governmental surveillance during the Red Scare.
⩥ Irreconcilables.
Answer: a congressional faction, including hardcore isolationists, that
was committed to voting against the Treaty of Versailles.
, ⩥ Jazz.
Answer: a popular musical genre known for syncopated rhythms and
improvisation that originated among African-American musicians in
New Orleans, Louisiana, and quickly spread throughout the nation and
the world in the 1920s.
⩥ Jim Crow.
Answer: a term used to refer to the legal and social restrictions placed on
African Americans and more generally to the widespread practice of
racial segregation throughout the Southern United States.
⩥ Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924.
Answer: Also referred to as the Quota Act or the National Origins Act,
this immigration restriction measure set a numerical quota for all nations
pegged to each nation's share of the U.S. population in 1890.
⩥ Jones, Bobby.
Answer: American golf champion who helped popularize the sport with
his impressive run of victories in major championships in the 1920s.
⩥ Kahn, Albert.
Answer: architect who designed Henry Ford's Highland Park factory that
emphasized natural light and housed an elaborate mechanical system of
conveyors, pulleys, and cranes to facilitate the mass production of
automobiles.
