PSAT Questions + Answers Part 11

[answerhappygod]

QUESTION 162
He was born a slave, but T. Thomas Fortune (18561928) went on to become a journalist, editor, and civil rights activist, founding several early black newspapers and a civil rights organization that predated W. E. B. DuBois' Niagara Movement (later the NAACP). Like many black leaders of his time, Fortune was torn between the radical leanings of DuBois and the more conservative ideology of Booker T. Washington. This 1884 essay, "The Negro and the Nation," dates from his more militant period.
The war of the Rebellion settled only one question: It forever settled the question of chattel slavery in this country. It forever choked the life out of the infamy of the Constitutional right of one man to rob another, by purchase of his person, or of his honest share of the produce of his own labor. But this was the only question permanently and irrevocably settled. Nor was this the all-absorbing question involved. The right of a state to secede from the socalled Union remains where it was when the treasonable shot upon Fort Sumter aroused the people to all the horrors of internecine war. And the measure of protection which the national government owes the individual members of states, a right imposed upon it by the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, remains still to be affirmed.
It was not sufficient that the federal government should expend its blood and treasure to unfetter the limbs of four millions of people. There can be a slavery more odious, more galling, than mere chattel slavery. It has been declared to be an act of charity to enforce ignorance upon the slave, since to inform his intelligence would simply be to make his unnatural lot all the more unbearable. Instance the miserable existence of Æsop, the great black moralist. But this is just what the manumission of the black people of this country try has accomplished. They are more absolutely under the control of the Southern whites; they are more systematically robbed of their labor; they are more poorly housed, clothed and fed, than under the slave régime; and they enjoy, practically, less of the protection of the laws of the state or of the federal government. When they appeal to the federal government they are told by the Supreme Court to go to the state authorities --as if they would have appealed to the one had the other given them that protection to which their sovereign citizenship entitles them!
Practically, there is no law in the United States which extends its protecting arm over the black man and his rights. He is, like the Irishman in Ireland, an alien in his native land. There is no central or auxiliary authority to which he can appeal for protection. Wherever he turns he finds the strong arm of constituted authority


powerless to protect him. The farmer and the merchant rob him with absolute immunity, and irresponsible ruffians murder him without fear of punishment, undeterred by the law, or by public opinion--which connives at, if it does not inspire, the deeds of lawless violence. Legislatures of states have framed a code of laws which is more cruel and unjust than any enforced by a former slave state.
The right of franchise has been practically annulled in every one of the former slave states, in not one of which, today, can a man vote, think, or act as he pleases. He must conform his views to the views of the men who have usurped every function of government--who, at the point of the dagger, and with shotgun, have made themselves masters in defiance of every law or precedent in our history as a government. They have usurped government with the weapons of the cowards and assassins, and they maintain themselves in power by the most approved practices of the most odious of tyrants. These men have shed as much innocent blood as the bloody triumvirate of Rome. Today, red handed murderers and assassins sit in the high places of power, and bask in the smiles of innocence and beauty.
The only solution the Civil War provided, according to Fortune, was to the problem of
A. mutuallydestructivewar B. protection
C. slavery
D. secession
E. constitutionalrights
Correct Answer: C
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
The first sentence contains this answer; the paragraph goes on to explain what was not settled by the war.
QUESTION 163
He was born a slave, but T. Thomas Fortune (18561928) went on to become a journalist, editor, and civil rights activist, founding several early black newspapers and a civil rights organization that predated W. E. B. DuBois' Niagara Movement (later the NAACP). Like many black leaders of his time, Fortune was torn between the radical leanings of DuBois and the more conservative ideology of Booker T. Washington. This 1884 essay, "The Negro and the Nation," dates from his more militant period.
The war of the Rebellion settled only one question: It forever settled the question of chattel slavery in this country. It forever choked the life out of the infamy of the Constitutional right of one man to rob another, by purchase of his person, or of his honest share of the produce of his own labor. But this was the only question permanently and irrevocably settled. Nor was this the all-absorbing question involved. The right of a state to secede from the socalled Union remains where it was when the treasonable shot upon Fort Sumter aroused the people to all the horrors of internecine war. And the measure of protection which the national government owes the individual members of states, a right imposed upon it by the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, remains still to be affirmed.
It was not sufficient that the federal government should expend its blood and treasure to unfetter the limbs of four millions of people. There can be a slavery more odious, more galling, than mere chattel slavery. It has been declared to be an act of charity to enforce ignorance upon the slave, since to inform his intelligence


would simply be to make his unnatural lot all the more unbearable. Instance the miserable existence of Æsop, the great black moralist. But this is just what the manumission of the black people of this country try has accomplished. They are more absolutely under the control of the Southern whites; they are more systematically robbed of their labor; they are more poorly housed, clothed and fed, than under the slave régime; and they enjoy, practically, less of the protection of the laws of the state or of the federal government. When they appeal to the federal government they are told by the Supreme Court to go to the state authorities --as if they would have appealed to the one had the other given them that protection to which their sovereign citizenship entitles them!
Practically, there is no law in the United States which extends its protecting arm over the black man and his rights. He is, like the Irishman in Ireland, an alien in his native land. There is no central or auxiliary authority to which he can appeal for protection. Wherever he turns he finds the strong arm of constituted authority powerless to protect him. The farmer and the merchant rob him with absolute immunity, and irresponsible ruffians murder him without fear of punishment, undeterred by the law, or by public opinion--which connives at, if it does not inspire, the deeds of lawless violence. Legislatures of states have framed a code of laws which is more cruel and unjust than any enforced by a former slave state.
The right of franchise has been practically annulled in every one of the former slave states, in not one of which, today, can a man vote, think, or act as he pleases. He must conform his views to the views of the men who have usurped every function of government--who, at the point of the dagger, and with shotgun, have made themselves masters in defiance of every law or precedent in our history as a government. They have usurped government with the weapons of the cowards and assassins, and they maintain themselves in power by the most approved practices of the most odious of tyrants. These men have shed as much innocent blood as the bloody triumvirate of Rome. Today, red handed murderers and assassins sit in the high places of power, and bask in the smiles of innocence and beauty.
The word manumission (3rd paragraph) means
A. emancipation B. duty
C. possessions D. forgiveness E. transportation
Correct Answer: A
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
You can deduce this answer by reading the whole paragraph carefully. Fortune talks about "a slavery more odious ... than chattel slavery." Even after being liberated, or emancipated, black people remain in chains.
QUESTION 164
He was born a slave, but T. Thomas Fortune (18561928) went on to become a journalist, editor, and civil rights activist, founding several early black newspapers and a civil rights organization that predated W. E. B. DuBois' Niagara Movement (later the NAACP). Like many black leaders of his time, Fortune was torn between the radical leanings of DuBois and the more conservative ideology of Booker T. Washington. This 1884 essay, "The Negro and the Nation," dates from his more militant period.


The war of the Rebellion settled only one question: It forever settled the question of chattel slavery in this country. It forever choked the life out of the infamy of the Constitutional right of one man to rob another, by purchase of his person, or of his honest share of the produce of his own labor. But this was the only question permanently and irrevocably settled. Nor was this the all-absorbing question involved. The right of a state to secede from the socalled Union remains where it was when the treasonable shot upon Fort Sumter aroused the people to all the horrors of internecine war. And the measure of protection which the national government owes the individual members of states, a right imposed upon it by the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, remains still to be affirmed.
It was not sufficient that the federal government should expend its blood and treasure to unfetter the limbs of four millions of people. There can be a slavery more odious, more galling, than mere chattel slavery. It has been declared to be an act of charity to enforce ignorance upon the slave, since to inform his intelligence would simply be to make his unnatural lot all the more unbearable. Instance the miserable existence of Æsop, the great black moralist. But this is just what the manumission of the black people of this country try has accomplished. They are more absolutely under the control of the Southern whites; they are more systematically robbed of their labor; they are more poorly housed, clothed and fed, than under the slave régime; and they enjoy, practically, less of the protection of the laws of the state or of the federal government. When they appeal to the federal government they are told by the Supreme Court to go to the state authorities --as if they would have appealed to the one had the other given them that protection to which their sovereign citizenship entitles them!
Practically, there is no law in the United States which extends its protecting arm over the black man and his rights. He is, like the Irishman in Ireland, an alien in his native land. There is no central or auxiliary authority to which he can appeal for protection. Wherever he turns he finds the strong arm of constituted authority powerless to protect him. The farmer and the merchant rob him with absolute immunity, and irresponsible ruffians murder him without fear of punishment, undeterred by the law, or by public opinion--which connives at, if it does not inspire, the deeds of lawless violence. Legislatures of states have framed a code of laws which is more cruel and unjust than any enforced by a former slave state.
The right of franchise has been practically annulled in every one of the former slave states, in not one of which, today, can a man vote, think, or act as he pleases. He must conform his views to the views of the men who have usurped every function of government--who, at the point of the dagger, and with shotgun, have made themselves masters in defiance of every law or precedent in our history as a government. They have usurped government with the weapons of the cowards and assassins, and they maintain themselves in power by the most approved practices of the most odious of tyrants. These men have shed as much innocent blood as the bloody triumvirate of Rome. Today, red handed murderers and assassins sit in the high places of power, and bask in the smiles of innocence and beauty.
Now that slavery has been abolished, Fortune believes, black people
A. arechattel
B. havefewerrightsthanbefore
C. are protected by laws
D. can succeed in the white man's world E. inspirelawlessviolence
Correct Answer: B
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:


Paragraphs 2 and 3 are entirely in support of this.
QUESTION 165
He was born a slave, but T. Thomas Fortune (18561928) went on to become a journalist, editor, and civil rights activist, founding several early black newspapers and a civil rights organization that predated W. E. B. DuBois' Niagara Movement (later the NAACP). Like many black leaders of his time, Fortune was torn between the radical leanings of DuBois and the more conservative ideology of Booker T. Washington. This 1884 essay, "The Negro and the Nation," dates from his more militant period.
The war of the Rebellion settled only one question: It forever settled the question of chattel slavery in this country. It forever choked the life out of the infamy of the Constitutional right of one man to rob another, by purchase of his person, or of his honest share of the produce of his own labor. But this was the only question permanently and irrevocably settled. Nor was this the all-absorbing question involved. The right of a state to secede from the socalled Union remains where it was when the treasonable shot upon Fort Sumter aroused the people to all the horrors of internecine war. And the measure of protection which the national government owes the individual members of states, a right imposed upon it by the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, remains still to be affirmed.
It was not sufficient that the federal government should expend its blood and treasure to unfetter the limbs of four millions of people. There can be a slavery more odious, more galling, than mere chattel slavery. It has been declared to be an act of charity to enforce ignorance upon the slave, since to inform his intelligence would simply be to make his unnatural lot all the more unbearable. Instance the miserable existence of Æsop, the great black moralist. But this is just what the manumission of the black people of this country try has accomplished. They are more absolutely under the control of the Southern whites; they are more systematically robbed of their labor; they are more poorly housed, clothed and fed, than under the slave régime; and they enjoy, practically, less of the protection of the laws of the state or of the federal government. When they appeal to the federal government they are told by the Supreme Court to go to the state authorities --as if they would have appealed to the one had the other given them that protection to which their sovereign citizenship entitles them!
Practically, there is no law in the United States which extends its protecting arm over the black man and his rights. He is, like the Irishman in Ireland, an alien in his native land. There is no central or auxiliary authority to which he can appeal for protection. Wherever he turns he finds the strong arm of constituted authority powerless to protect him. The farmer and the merchant rob him with absolute immunity, and irresponsible ruffians murder him without fear of punishment, undeterred by the law, or by public opinion--which connives at, if it does not inspire, the deeds of lawless violence. Legislatures of states have framed a code of laws which is more cruel and unjust than any enforced by a former slave state.
The right of franchise has been practically annulled in every one of the former slave states, in not one of which, today, can a man vote, think, or act as he pleases. He must conform his views to the views of the men who have usurped every function of government--who, at the point of the dagger, and with shotgun, have made themselves masters in defiance of every law or precedent in our history as a government. They have usurped government with the weapons of the cowards and assassins, and they maintain themselves in power by the most approved practices of the most odious of tyrants. These men have shed as much innocent blood as the bloody triumvirate of Rome. Today, red handed murderers and assassins sit in the high places of power, and bask in the smiles of innocence and beauty.
Fortune uses the example of the Irishman to show that
A. famineisnotalientopeopleintheUnitedStates
B. onecanbetreatedasaforeignerinthelandofone'sbirth
C. some people have a native land; others have none
D. one can be born to slavery but rise above it
E. peoplemaybetreatedmorefairlyinamonarchythaninademocracy


Correct Answer: B
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
No law protects the black man; he is, "like the Irishman in Ireland, an alien in his native land"
QUESTION 166
Musical notes, like all sounds, are a result of the sound waves created by movement, like the rush of air through a trumpet. Musical notes are very regular sound waves. The qualities of these waves --how much they displace molecules, and how often they do so--give the note its particular sound. How much a sound wave displaces molecules affects the volume of the note. How frequently a sound wave reaches your ear determines whether the note is high or low pitched. When scientists describe how high or low a sound is, they use a numerical measurement of its frequency, such as "440 vibrations per second," rather than the letters musicians use.
In this passage, musical notes are used primarily to
A. illustratethedifferencebetweenhuman-producedandnonhumanproducedsound. B. demonstratethedifferencebetweenmusicalsoundandallothersound.
C. provide an example of sound properties common to all sound.
D. convey the difference between musical pitch and frequency pitch.
E. explaintheconnectionbetweennumberandletternamesforsounds
Correct Answer: C
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
The passage begins, "Musical notes, like all sounds, are a result of the sound waves created by movement." The author then goes on to talk about musical notes and how they illustrate properties of sound waves. Choice C. captures this idea.
QUESTION 167
Musical notes, like all sounds, are a result of the sound waves created by movement, like the rush of air through a trumpet. Musical notes are very regular sound waves. The qualities of these waves --how much they displace molecules, and how often they do so--give the note its particular sound. How much a sound wave displaces molecules affects the volume of the note. How frequently a sound wave reaches your ear determines whether the note is high or low pitched. When scientists describe how high or low a sound is, they use a numerical measurement of its frequency, such as "440 vibrations per second," rather than the letters musicians use.


All of the following are true statements about pitch, according to the passage, EXCEPT:
A. Nonmusicalsoundscannotbereferredtointermsofpitch.
B. Pitchissolelydeterminedbythefrequencyofthesoundwave.
C. Pitch is closely related to the vibration of molecules.
D. Pitch cannot be accurately described with letter names.
E. Humans'perceptionofpitchisnotaffectedbytheintensityofthesoundwave.
Correct Answer: A
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
Pitch is determined by the frequency of the sound wave. This eliminates B. and (E). Choice C. seems to refer more to the intensity, so eliminate it too. The final sentence says that pitch can be described either in numbers or in letters, so eliminate (D). That leaves (A), the correct answer.
QUESTION 168
Margaret Walker, who would become one of the most important twentieth century African-American poets, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1915. Her parents, a minister and a music teacher, encouraged her to read poetry and philosophy even as a child. Walker completed her high school education at Gilbert Academy in New Orleans and went on to attend New Orleans University for two years. It was then that the important Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes recognized her talent and persuaded her to continue her education in the North. She transferred to Northwestern University in Illinois, where she received a degree in English in 1935. Her poem, "For My People," which would remain one of her most important works, was also her first publication, appearing in Poetry magazine in 1937.
The passage cites Walker's interaction with Langston Hughes as
A. instrumentalinherearlyworkbeingpublished.
B. influentialinherdecisiontostudyatNorthwesternUniversity.
C. not as important at the time it happened as it is now, due to Hughes' fame. D. a great encouragement for Walker's confidence as a poet.
E. importanttoherchoicetostudyatNewOrleansUniversity.
Correct Answer: B
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:


The passage states that Langston Hughes "persuaded her to continue her education in the North." And the passage uses this fact to explain her transfer to Northwestern. This is what (B), the correct answer, suggests
QUESTION 169
Margaret Walker, who would become one of the most important twentieth century African-American poets, was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1915. Her parents, a minister and a music teacher, encouraged her to read poetry and philosophy even as a child. Walker completed her high school education at Gilbert Academy in New Orleans and went on to attend New Orleans University for two years. It was then that the important Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes recognized her talent and persuaded her to continue her education in the North. She transferred to Northwestern University in Illinois, where she received a degree in English in 1935. Her poem, "For My People," which would remain one of her most important works, was also her first publication, appearing in Poetry magazine in 1937.
The passage suggests that Walker's decision to become a poet
A. occurredbeforesheenteredcollege.
B. wasprimarilyaresultofherinteractionwithHughes. C. was not surprising, given her upbringing.
D. occurred after her transfer to Northwestern University. E. wassuddenandimmediatelysuccessful.
Correct Answer: C
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
The passage doesn't specifically say that Walker was writing poetry before she entered New Orleans University. Eliminate (A). Hughes recognized her talent, but he didn't create it, so eliminate (B). Hughes recognized her talent before she transferred to Northwestern, so eliminate (D). The passage, if anything, implies that Walker wrote poetry for some time before publishing anything, so eliminate (E). The passage makes reference to her parents' occupations and encouragement, implying that they had an influence on her decision to become a poet
QUESTION 170
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prominent American writer of the twentieth century. This passage comes from one of his short stories and tells the story of a young John Unger leaving home for boarding school. John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades a small town on the Mississippi River for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known “from hot-box to
hot-bed,” as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers.
And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home
That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents.
Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston—Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son. Now in Hades—as you


know if you ever have been there the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as “perhaps a little tacky.”
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocket-book stuffed with money. “Remember, you are always welcome here,” he said. “You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.” “I know,” answered John huskily.
“Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,” continued his father proudly, “and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger—from Hades.”
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as “Hades—Your Opportunity,” or else a plain “Welcome”
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought—but now.
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and passionate beauty.
The tone of sentence “their darling and gifted son” can best be described as
A. compassionate. B. sincere.
C. sardonic.
D. dismayed.
E. understated.
Correct Answer: C
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
The author is poking a bit of fun at the Ungers, so eliminate (A), (B), and (E). His tone is more playful than downtrodden, so the answer is (C).
QUESTION 171
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prominent American writer of the twentieth century. This passage comes from one of his short stories and tells the story of a young John Unger leaving home for boarding school. John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades a small town on the Mississippi River for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known “from hot-box to
hot-bed,” as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers.


And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home
That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents.
Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston—Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son. Now in Hades—as you know if you ever have been there the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as “perhaps a little tacky.”
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocket-book stuffed with money. “Remember, you are always welcome here,” he said. “You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.” “I know,” answered John huskily.
“Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,” continued his father proudly, “and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger—from Hades.”
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as “Hades—Your Opportunity,” or else a plain “Welcome”
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought—but now.
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and passionate beauty.
The “Chicago beef-princess” can best be described as representing the Chicago upper class by way of which literary device?
A. Anachronism B. Simile
C. Apostrophe D. Metaphor
E. Neologism
Correct Answer: D
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
The "Chicago beef-princess" suggests the wider high-class social world in Chicago. When one thing stands in for another, it is a metaphor. The answer is (D).
QUESTION 172
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prominent American writer of the twentieth century. This passage comes from one of his short stories and tells the story of a young John


Unger leaving home for boarding school. John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades a small town on the Mississippi River for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known “from hot-box to
hot-bed,” as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers.
And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home
That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents.
Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston—Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son. Now in Hades—as you know if you ever have been there the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as “perhaps a little tacky.”
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocket-book stuffed with money. “Remember, you are always welcome here,” he said. “You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.” “I know,” answered John huskily.
“Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,” continued his father proudly, “and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger—from Hades.”
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as “Hades—Your Opportunity,” or else a plain “Welcome”
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought—but now.
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and passionate beauty.
The phrase “maternal fatuity”, suggests that
A. JohnwillnotneedlinensuitsandelectricfansatSt.Midas's. B. John'smotherpackedfranticallyandineffectively.
C. John's mother was excessively doting.
D. John resented his mother packing for him.
E. Johnneverenjoyedlinensuitsorelectricfans.
Correct Answer: A
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:


Even if you do not know the definition of fatuity you can still get this question. John is going from Hades, which we can assume is hot, to Boston. He will probably not need the light suits and fans. The answer is (A).
QUESTION 173
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prominent American writer of the twentieth century. This passage comes from one of his short stories and tells the story of a young John Unger leaving home for boarding school. John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades a small town on the Mississippi River for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known “from hot-box to
hot-bed,” as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers.
And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home
That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents.
Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston—Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son. Now in Hades—as you know if you ever have been there the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as “perhaps a little tacky.”
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocket-book stuffed with money. “Remember, you are always welcome here,” he said. “You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.” “I know,” answered John huskily.
“Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,” continued his father proudly, “and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger—from Hades.”
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as “Hades—Your Opportunity,” or else a plain “Welcome”
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought—but now.
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and passionate beauty.
From the conversation between John and his father in paragraphs 3–6, it can be inferred that John feels
A. rejectedandangry.
B. melancholicbutcomposed. C. impassive and indifferent.
D. resigned but filled with dread. E. relievedbutapprehensive.
Correct Answer: B
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions


Explanation Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
We know that John does not feel rejected, because he says he knows he will always be welcome at home. Eliminate (A). On the other hand, he does feel something negative, or he wouldn't cry. Eliminate C. and (E). The handshake and the fact that John's tears are not mentioned until he has turned away from his father suggest that he is composed. The best answer is (B).
QUESTION 174
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prominent American writer of the twentieth century. This passage comes from one of his short stories and tells the story of a young John Unger leaving home for boarding school. John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades a small town on the Mississippi River for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known “from hot-box to
hot-bed,” as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers.
And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home
That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents.
Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston—Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son. Now in Hades—as you know if you ever have been there the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as “perhaps a little tacky.”
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocket-book stuffed with money. “Remember, you are always welcome here,” he said. “You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.” “I know,” answered John huskily.
“Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,” continued his father proudly, “and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger—from Hades.”
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as “Hades—Your Opportunity,” or else a plain “Welcome”
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought—but now.
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and passionate beauty.
John’s meditation on the town’s sign in the passage serves primarily to suggest a contrast between
A. John'sloveofVictorianthingsandhisfather'sloveofmodernthings. B. hisfather'scommercialismandJohn'ssentimentality.


C. John's previous role as a part of the town and his new role as nostalgic outsider.
D. his father's naivety and John's pragmatism.
E. theold-fashionedatmosphereinthetownbeforeJohn'sfatherinfluenceditanditscurrentmodernity.
Correct Answer: C
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
If you were leaving home (and you were crying), why would you stop and look back? Most likely you would do so because you were sad to leave and wanted to get one last look before you went. Which of the answer choices matches this sentiment? Choice C. does. The meditation on what the sign says serves to emphasize the quaintness of the town, of which John will no longer be a part. The other answers rely on your being distracted from the main emotions of the story.
QUESTION 175
F. Scott Fitzgerald was a prominent American writer of the twentieth century. This passage comes from one of his short stories and tells the story of a young John Unger leaving home for boarding school. John T. Unger came from a family that had been well known in Hades a small town on the Mississippi River for several generations. John’s father had held the amateur golf championship through many a heated contest; Mrs. Unger was known “from hot-box to
hot-bed,” as the local phrase went, for her political addresses; and young John T. Unger, who had just turned sixteen, had danced all the latest dances from New York before he put on long trousers.
And now, for a certain time, he was to be away from home
That respect for a New England education which is the bane of all provincial places, which drains them yearly of their most promising young men, had seized upon his parents.
Nothing would suit them but that he should go to St. Midas’s School near Boston—Hades was too small to hold their darling and gifted son. Now in Hades—as you know if you ever have been there the names of the more fashionable preparatory schools and colleges mean very little. The inhabitants have been so long out of the world that, though they make a show of keeping up-to-date in dress and manners and literature, they depend to a great extent on hearsay, and a function that in Hades would be considered elaborate would doubtless be hailed by a Chicago beef-princess as “perhaps a little tacky.”
John T. Unger was on the eve of departure. Mrs. Unger, with maternal fatuity, packed his trunks full of linen suits and electric fans, and Mr. Unger presented his son with an asbestos pocket-book stuffed with money. “Remember, you are always welcome here,” he said. “You can be sure, boy, that we’ll keep the home fires burning.” “I know,” answered John huskily.
“Don’t forget who you are and where you come from,” continued his father proudly, “and you can do nothing to harm you. You are an Unger—from Hades.”
So the old man and the young shook hands, and John walked away with tears streaming from his eyes. Ten minutes later he had passed outside the city limits and he stopped to glance back for the last time. Over the gates the old-fashioned Victorian motto seemed strangely attractive to him. His father had tried time and time again to have it changed to something with a little more push and verve about it, such as “Hades—Your Opportunity,” or else a plain “Welcome”
sign set over a hearty handshake pricked out in electric lights. The old motto was a little depressing, Mr. Unger had thought—but now.
So John took his look and then set his face resolutely toward his destination. And, as he turned away, the lights of Hades against the sky seemed full of a warm and


passionate beauty.
The names Hades, St. Midas, and Unger suggest that the passage can be considered a(n)
A. epicpoem. B. euphemism. C. aphorism. D. satire.
E. allegory.
Correct Answer: E
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
Hades is hell in Greco-Roman mythology. Midas represents wealth. Unger resonates with the hunger the family feels for the wealth and prestige of the North. In other words, the names suggest that the story uses the experiences of this one family to represent a larger situation. It is an allegory, choice (E).
QUESTION 176
This passage discusses the work of Abe Kobo, a Japanese novelist of the twentieth century.
Abe Kobo is one of the great writers of postwar Japan. His literature is richer, less predictable, and wider-ranging than that of his famed contemporaries, Mishima Yukio and Nobel laureate Oe Kenzaburo. It is infused with the passion and strangeness of his experiences in Manchuria, which was a Japanese colony on mainland China before World War II.
Abe spent his childhood and much of his youth in Manchuria, and, as a result, the orbit of his work would be far less controlled by the oppressive gravitational pull of the themes of furusato (hometown) and the emperor than his contemporaries'.
Abe, like most of the sons of Japanese families living in Manchuria, did return to Japan for schooling. He entered medical school in Tokyo in 1944--just in time to forge himself a medical certificate claiming ill health; this allowed him to avoid fighting in the war that Japan was already losing and return to Manchuria. When Japan lost the war, however, it also lost its Manchurian colony. The Japanese living there were attacked by the Soviet Army and various guerrilla bands. They suddenly found themselves refugees, desperate for food. Many unfit men were abandoned in the Manchurian desert. At this apocalyptic time, Abe lost his father to cholera. He returned to mainland Japan once more, where the young were turning to Marxism as a rejection of the militarism of the war. After a brief, unsuccessful stint at medical school, he became part of a Marxist group of avant-garde artists. His work at this time was passionate and outspoken on political matters, adopting black humor as its mode of critique.
During this time, Abe worked in the genres of theater, music, and photography. Eventually, he mimeographed fifty copies of his first "published" literary work, entitled Anonymous Poems, in 1947. It was a politically charged set of poems dedicated to the memory of his father and friends who had died in Manchuria. Shortly


thereafter, he published his first novel, For a Signpost at the End of a Road, which imagined another life for his best friend who had died in the Manchurian desert. Abe was also active in the Communist Party, organizing literary groups for workingmen.
Unfortunately, most of this radical early work is unknown outside Japan and underappreciated even in Japan. In early 1962, Abe was dismissed from the Japanese Liberalist Party. Four months later, he published the work that would blind us to his earlier oeuvre, Woman in the Dunes. It was director Teshigahara Hiroshi's film adaptation of Woman in the Dunes that brought Abe's work to the international stage. The movie's fame has wrongly led readers to view the novel as Abe's masterpiece. It would be more accurate to say that the novel simply marked a turning point in his career, when Abe turned away from the experimental and heavily political work of his earlier career. Fortunately, he did not then turn to furusato and the emperor after all, but rather began a somewhat more realistic exploration of his continuing obsession with homelessness and alienation. Not completely a stranger to his earlier commitment to Marxism, Abe turned his attention, beginning in the sixties, to the effects on the individual of
Japan's rapidly urbanizing, growthdriven, increasingly corporate society. The word "infused" in 1st paragraph most closely means
A. illuminated. B. saturated. C. influenced. D. bewildered. E. nuanced.
Correct Answer: C
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
Infused is used to mean that his work was filled with the experiences he had in Manchuria. Eliminate all but B. and (C). Saturated has something of a negative tone, and the author praises Abe's work, so eliminate (B). The answer is (C).
QUESTION 177
This passage discusses the work of Abe Kobo, a Japanese novelist of the twentieth century.
Abe Kobo is one of the great writers of postwar Japan. His literature is richer, less predictable, and wider-ranging than that of his famed contemporaries, Mishima Yukio and Nobel laureate Oe Kenzaburo. It is infused with the passion and strangeness of his experiences in Manchuria, which was a Japanese colony on mainland China before World War II.
Abe spent his childhood and much of his youth in Manchuria, and, as a result, the orbit of his work would be far less controlled by the oppressive gravitational pull of the themes of furusato (hometown) and the emperor than his contemporaries'.
Abe, like most of the sons of Japanese families living in Manchuria, did return to Japan for schooling. He entered medical school in Tokyo in 1944--just in time to


forge himself a medical certificate claiming ill health; this allowed him to avoid fighting in the war that Japan was already losing and return to Manchuria. When Japan lost the war, however, it also lost its Manchurian colony. The Japanese living there were attacked by the Soviet Army and various guerrilla bands. They suddenly found themselves refugees, desperate for food. Many unfit men were abandoned in the Manchurian desert. At this apocalyptic time, Abe lost his father to cholera.
He returned to mainland Japan once more, where the young were turning to Marxism as a rejection of the militarism of the war. After a brief, unsuccessful stint at medical school, he became part of a Marxist group of avant-garde artists. His work at this time was passionate and outspoken on political matters, adopting black humor as its mode of critique.
During this time, Abe worked in the genres of theater, music, and photography. Eventually, he mimeographed fifty copies of his first "published" literary work, entitled Anonymous Poems, in 1947. It was a politically charged set of poems dedicated to the memory of his father and friends who had died in Manchuria. Shortly thereafter, he published his first novel, For a Signpost at the End of a Road, which imagined another life for his best friend who had died in the Manchurian desert. Abe was also active in the Communist Party, organizing literary groups for workingmen.
Unfortunately, most of this radical early work is unknown outside Japan and underappreciated even in Japan. In early 1962, Abe was dismissed from the Japanese Liberalist Party. Four months later, he published the work that would blind us to his earlier oeuvre, Woman in the Dunes. It was director Teshigahara Hiroshi's film adaptation of Woman in the Dunes that brought Abe's work to the international stage. The movie's fame has wrongly led readers to view the novel as Abe's masterpiece. It would be more accurate to say that the novel simply marked a turning point in his career, when Abe turned away from the experimental and heavily political work of his earlier career. Fortunately, he did not then turn to furusato and the emperor after all, but rather began a somewhat more realistic exploration of his continuing obsession with homelessness and alienation. Not completely a stranger to his earlier commitment to Marxism, Abe turned his attention, beginning in the sixties, to the effects on the individual of
Japan's rapidly urbanizing, growthdriven, increasingly corporate society.
The author refers to "the orbit" of Abe's work (2nd paragraph) to emphasize that
A. hisworkcoversawiderangeofthemes.
B. theemperorisoftencomparedtoasun.
C. Abe's travels were the primary themes in his work.
D. Abe's work is so different from his contemporaries' that it is like another solar system. E. conventionalthemescanlimitanauthor'sindividuality.
Correct Answer: E
Section: Reading Comprehension Questions Explanation
Explanation/Reference:
Explanation:
The metaphorical use of orbit and gravitational pull is used in conjunction with the negative words "controlled" and "oppressive." Abe's work is not controlled by oppressive forces. Eliminate (B), (C), and (D). Choices A. and E. are similar answers, but E. better captures the author's intent.