Sample question 1 asked students to make an inference based on the details of the passage to determine the best overall description of early frontier women. See the full text of the reading passage below.

67 percent of 9-year-olds answered this question correctly.

Which statement best describes the frontier women?

	They lived dangerous lives and tamed the West.
	They hunted to provide food for their families.
	They frequently worried about the safety of their homes.
	They worked hard and possessed many skills.

The correct answer is D.

See more about this question in the NAEP Questions Tool.

Sample Reading Passage

Frontier Women

Like the early colonial women settlers of the backwoods, frontier women made everything their families needed. Most began work at daybreak and did not rest until late evening. They cooked, spun cloth, made clothing, raised children, and tried to keep their dirt homes clean. They cleared and plowed fields, tended and harvested crops, milked the cows, raised hogs, rode and trained horses, and did just about every chore on the farm. 

The women not only worked, they also made most of their own tools. To make pitchforks, they attached handles to deer antlers. Many of the women learned to use a knife well enough to carve spoons, forks, and bowls out of animal bones. They fashioned cups and containers out of vegetable gourds and animal horns.