Common Core: 11th Grade English Language Arts
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AP English Language and Composition › Common Core: 11th Grade English Language Arts
Passage 2: Adapted from Woodrow Wilson’s “War Message to Congress” ("Address of The President of the United States Delivered at a Joint Session of The Two Houses of Congress") (April 2, 1917)
On the third of February last I officially laid before you the extraordinary announcement of the Imperial German Government that on and after the first day of February it was its purpose to put aside all restraints of law or of humanity and use its submarines to sink every vessel that sought to approach either the ports of Great Britain and Ireland or the western coasts of Europe or any of the ports controlled by the enemies of Germany within the Mediterranean.
That had seemed to be the object of the German submarine warfare earlier in the war, but since April of last year, the Imperial Government had somewhat restrained the commanders of its undersea craft in conformity with its promise then given to us that passenger boats should not be sunk and that due warning would be given to all other vessels which its submarines might seek to destroy when no resistance was offered or escape attempted, and care taken that their crews were given at least a fair chance to save their lives in their open boats. The precautions taken were meager and haphazard enough, as was proved in distressing instance after instance in the progress of the cruel business, but a certain degree of restraint was observed.
The new policy has swept every restriction aside. Vessels of every kind, whatever their flag, their character, their cargo, their destination, their errand, have been ruthlessly sent to the bottom: without warning and without thought of help or mercy for those on board, the vessels of friendly neutrals along with those of belligerents. Even hospital ships and ships carrying relief to the sorely bereaved and stricken people of Belgium, though the latter were provided with safe conduct through the proscribed areas by the German Government itself and were distinguished by unmistakable marks of identity, have been sunk with the same reckless lack of compassion or of principle.
I was for a little while unable to believe that such things would in fact be done by any government that had hitherto subscribed to humane practices. \[International maritime law\] the German Government has swept aside under the plea of retaliation and necessity and because it had no weapons which it could use at sea except these which it is impossible to employ as it is employing them without throwing to the winds all scruples of humanity or of respect for the understandings that were supposed to underlie the intercourse of the world. I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of noncombatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of peaceful and innocent people cannot be. The present German submarine warfare against commerce is a warfare against mankind.
It is a war against all nations. American ships have been sunk, American lives taken, in ways which it has stirred us very deeply to learn of, but the ships and people of other neutral and friendly nations have been sunk and overwhelmed in the waters in the same way. There has been no discrimination. The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.
Based on what is stated in the passage, which of the following is most likely the recommendation the author makes later in this speech?
That the U.S. should declare war against Germany
That the U.S. should join Germany's side in the war
That the U.S. should not get involved in the war between Germany and other countries
That the U.S. should increase naval security around its own ports to fend off potential attacks
That the U.S. should send food and supplies to Germany and other European countries
Explanation
Being asked to infer the recommendation the author makes later in the speech after the presented excerpt may initially seem like it requires a logical leap that is impossible to make from the given material; however, keep in mind that you only given four answer choices from which to choose, and one of them is the correct answer. If this were an open-ended question, it would be far too broad to be reasonable, but since it asks you to choose the most reasonable inference from presented options, answering the question correctly becomes a matter of taking stock of the passage and figuring out which answer choice is supported by the most textual evidence.
To infer what is most likely the recommendation the author makes later in the speech, let's first briefly summarize the main point of each paragraph. This can help us get a better idea of the general progression of topics in the passage, and such a bird's-eye view of the passage's content can aid in predicting how the speech continues after the passage's excerpt concludes.
Paragraph 1: Statement of Imperial German Government's new policy of sinking vessels around specific ports
Paragraph 2: Context provided about the old policy, which provided certain safety measures for vessels that would otherwise be attacked
Paragraph 3: Contrasting of new policy against old one; new one is much worse and does not provide any safety measures like the old one did
Paragraph 4: Reflection of the author on the new policy as terrible and inhumane; start of generalization of specific situation to greater problem
Paragraph 5: Continued generalization of specific situation to general, worldwide problem, beginning of suggestion that the U.S. will respond to the problem by opposing Germany's actions
Most of the evidence about the recommendation the author makes after this particular excerpt concludes can (perhaps unsurprisingly) be found at the end of the passage. At this point, the author is moving from discussing a generalization of the problem presented by the Imperial German government's actions to discussion of how the U.S. will respond. Let's look at the passage's final lines:
The challenge is to all mankind. Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it. The choice we make for ourselves must be made with a moderation of counsel and a temperateness of judgment befitting our character and our motives as a nation. We must put excited feeling away. Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion.
Consider in particular how the author states, "Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but . . . " Even though the author is asserting that this is what the U.S. will not do, the mentioning of "the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation" as even a possible motive for the actions of the U.S. suggests that the author is about to suggest that the country go to war. This fits with the perspective of the entire passage, which denounces the actions of the Imperial German government, considers those actions as indicative of large-scale problems, and recommends that the U.S. respond to them directly. The best answer is thus that the most likely recommendation the author makes later in the passage is "that the U.S. should declare war against Germany." (Indeed, this is exactly what the author suggests at the end of the paragraph that follows the passage's last one.) None of the other answer choices are supported by the passage.
Passage adapted from "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street" by Herman Melville (1853)
I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men, of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written—I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep. But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener of the strangest I ever saw or heard of. While of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man. It is an irreparable loss to literature. Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel.
Ere introducing the scrivener, as he first appeared to me, it is fit I make some mention of myself, my employees, my business, my chambers, and general surroundings; because some such description is indispensable to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented.
Imprimis: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best. Hence, though I belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous, even to turbulence, at times, yet nothing of that sort have I ever suffered to invade my peace. I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men's bonds and mortgages and title-deeds. All who know me, consider me an eminently safe man. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next, method. I do not speak it in vanity, but simply record the fact, that I was not unemployed in my profession by the late John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion. I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good opinion.
What is the effect of the choice of the highlighted word "astonished"?
By modifying the word "eyes" it creates an instance of personification in the text
In contrast with the use of "vague" later in the same sentence, it creates an instance of hyperbole
By modifying the word "eyes" it creates an instance of onomatopoeia
None of these
Explanation
This question tests the test writer's ability to figure out the role of a single word in the formation of a literary device. So, the first step should be to establish the meaning of each of the literary devices named in our answer options. "Personification" occurs when a non-human object or idea has a human emotion or action ascribed to it. "Hyperbole" is extreme exaggeration for literary effect. "Onomatopoeia" refers to words whose sound mirrors their meaning(eg."bang"). Since onomatopoeia is a word that does not require pairing with another word for its effect, we can immediately eliminate this answer choice, which references the pairing of the highlighted word with "eyes." Hyperbole is a tempting option, since "astonished" is a strong word that will often be used to exaggerate; however, this answer option hinges on "astonished" being paired with "vague" later in the sentence, but "vague" is used in a different clause, and is referencing a "report" rather than the author's own impression. This leaves either the option that none of the answer choices is correct, or that the pairing of "eyes" with "astonished" creates a personification...which it does! While "eyes" are a part of the human body, they are not themselves capable of feeling "astonished," which is an emotion. This word pairing could also be argued to be a synecdoche (a part standing for a whole), but this does not preclude the pairing also forming a personification. Eyes, after all, are an object incapable of feeling, so to describe them as astonished is, indeed, an instance of personification.
Passage adapted from "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street" by Herman Melville (1853)
I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men, of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written—I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep. But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener of the strangest I ever saw or heard of. While of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man. It is an irreparable loss to literature. Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel.
Ere introducing the scrivener, as he first appeared to me, it is fit I make some mention of myself, my employees, my business, my chambers, and general surroundings; because some such description is indispensable to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented.
Imprimis: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best. Hence, though I belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous, even to turbulence, at times, yet nothing of that sort have I ever suffered to invade my peace. I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men's bonds and mortgages and title-deeds. All who know me, consider me an eminently safe man. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next, method. I do not speak it in vanity, but simply record the fact, that I was not unemployed in my profession by the late John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion. I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good opinion.
What is the effect of the choice of the highlighted word "astonished"?
By modifying the word "eyes" it creates an instance of personification in the text
In contrast with the use of "vague" later in the same sentence, it creates an instance of hyperbole
By modifying the word "eyes" it creates an instance of onomatopoeia
None of these
Explanation
This question tests the test writer's ability to figure out the role of a single word in the formation of a literary device. So, the first step should be to establish the meaning of each of the literary devices named in our answer options. "Personification" occurs when a non-human object or idea has a human emotion or action ascribed to it. "Hyperbole" is extreme exaggeration for literary effect. "Onomatopoeia" refers to words whose sound mirrors their meaning(eg."bang"). Since onomatopoeia is a word that does not require pairing with another word for its effect, we can immediately eliminate this answer choice, which references the pairing of the highlighted word with "eyes." Hyperbole is a tempting option, since "astonished" is a strong word that will often be used to exaggerate; however, this answer option hinges on "astonished" being paired with "vague" later in the sentence, but "vague" is used in a different clause, and is referencing a "report" rather than the author's own impression. This leaves either the option that none of the answer choices is correct, or that the pairing of "eyes" with "astonished" creates a personification...which it does! While "eyes" are a part of the human body, they are not themselves capable of feeling "astonished," which is an emotion. This word pairing could also be argued to be a synecdoche (a part standing for a whole), but this does not preclude the pairing also forming a personification. Eyes, after all, are an object incapable of feeling, so to describe them as astonished is, indeed, an instance of personification.
Adapted from “Federalist No.19” in The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison (1788)
Among the confederacies of antiquity, the most considerable was that of the Grecian republics, associated under the Amphictyonic council. From the best accounts transmitted of this celebrated institution, it bore a very instructive analogy to the present Confederation of the American States. The members retained the character of independent and sovereign states, and had equal votes in the federal council. This council had a general authority to propose and resolve whatever it judged necessary for the common welfare of Greece; to declare and carry on war; to decide, in the last resort, all controversies between the members; to fine the aggressing party; to employ the whole force of the confederacy against the disobedient; and to admit new members.
The Amphictyons were the guardians of religion, and of the immense riches belonging to the temple of Delphos, where they had the right of jurisdiction in controversies between the inhabitants and those who came to consult the oracle. As a further provision for the efficacy of the federal powers, they took an oath mutually to defend and protect the united cities, to punish the violators of this oath, and to inflict vengeance on sacrilegious despoilers of the temple.
In theory, and upon paper, this apparatus of powers seems amply sufficient for all general purposes. In several material instances, they exceed the powers enumerated in the Articles of Confederation. The Amphictyons had in their hands the superstition of the times, one of the principal engines by which government was then maintained; they had a declared authority to use coercion against refractory cities, and were bound by oath to exert this authority on the necessary occasions.
Very different, nevertheless, was the experiment from the theory. The powers, like those of the present Congress, were administered by deputies appointed wholly by the cities in their political capacities, and exercised over them in the same capacities. Hence the weakness, the disorders, and finally the destruction of the confederacy. The more powerful members, instead of being kept in awe and subordination, tyrannized successively over all the rest. Athens, as we learn from Demosthenes, was the arbiter of Greece seventy-three years. The Lacedaemonians next governed it twenty-nine years; at a subsequent period, after the battle of Leuctra, the Thebans had their turn of domination. It happened but too often, according to Plutarch, that the deputies of the strongest cities awed and corrupted those of the weaker; and that judgment went in favor of the most powerful party. Even in the midst of defensive and dangerous wars with Persia and Macedon, the members never acted in concert, and were, more or fewer of them, eternally the dupes or the hirelings of the common enemy. The intervals of foreign war were filled up by domestic vicissitudes, convulsions, and carnage.
After the conclusion of the war with Xerxes, it appears that the Lacedaemonians required that a number of the cities should be turned out of the confederacy for the unfaithful part they had acted. The Athenians, finding that the Lacedaemonians would lose fewer partisans by such a measure than themselves, and would become masters of the public deliberations, vigorously opposed and defeated the attempt. This piece of history proves at once the inefficiency of the union, the ambition and jealousy of its most powerful members, and the dependent and degraded condition of the rest. The smaller members, though entitled by the theory of their system to revolve in equal pride and majesty around the common center, had become, in fact, satellites of the orbs of primary magnitude.
Had the Greeks, says the Abbe Milot, been as wise as they were courageous, they would have been admonished by experience of the necessity of a closer union, and would have availed themselves of the peace which followed their success against the Persian arms to establish such a reformation. Instead of this obvious policy, Athens and Sparta, inflated with the victories and the glory they had acquired, became first rivals and then enemies, and did each other infinitely more mischief than they had suffered from Xerxes. Their mutual jealousies, fears, hatreds, and injuries ended in the celebrated Peloponnesian war, which itself ended in the ruin and slavery of the Athenians who had begun it.
What is the primary purpose of this passage?
To advocate for fundamental political principles the author believes are important
To accurately convey the history of Greek statehood
To provide an alternative perspective in the face of proposed legislation
To provide a political analysis of a widely-known historical period
Explanation
A vital step in accurately interpreting a passage is understanding the point of view of the author and their purpose in producing the document you are reading. It is important, when approaching texts, not simply to ask what a text is saying, but to go a step further and ask why it is saying what it is saying in the way it is saying it. Since the vast majority of this passage selection is devoted to providing historical context and detail, if you were simply at every step interrogating what the text was saying, you would find yourself tricked into thinking you were reading a work of history. That is NOT the case here. While the example is extremely lengthy it is just that, an example. The author believes that this example will act as "a very instructive analogy to the present Confederation of the American States," thus the purpose of the passage cannot be limited to the explication of this example. The purpose of the text is thus to present and advocate for political principles, using the historical example as a mere tool.
Passage adapted from "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street" by Herman Melville (1853)
I am a rather elderly man. The nature of my avocations for the last thirty years has brought me into more than ordinary contact with what would seem an interesting and somewhat singular set of men, of whom as yet nothing that I know of has ever been written—I mean the law-copyists or scriveners. I have known very many of them, professionally and privately, and if I pleased, could relate divers histories, at which good-natured gentlemen might smile, and sentimental souls might weep. But I waive the biographies of all other scriveners for a few passages in the life of Bartleby, who was a scrivener of the strangest I ever saw or heard of. While of other law-copyists I might write the complete life, of Bartleby nothing of that sort can be done. I believe that no materials exist for a full and satisfactory biography of this man. It is an irreparable loss to literature. Bartleby was one of those beings of whom nothing is ascertainable, except from the original sources, and in his case those are very small. What my own astonished eyes saw of Bartleby, that is all I know of him, except, indeed, one vague report which will appear in the sequel.
Ere introducing the scrivener, as he first appeared to me, it is fit I make some mention of myself, my employees, my business, my chambers, and general surroundings; because some such description is indispensable to an adequate understanding of the chief character about to be presented.
Imprimis: I am a man who, from his youth upwards, has been filled with a profound conviction that the easiest way of life is the best. Hence, though I belong to a profession proverbially energetic and nervous, even to turbulence, at times, yet nothing of that sort have I ever suffered to invade my peace. I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men's bonds and mortgages and title-deeds. All who know me, consider me an eminently safe man. The late John Jacob Astor, a personage little given to poetic enthusiasm, had no hesitation in pronouncing my first grand point to be prudence; my next, method. I do not speak it in vanity, but simply record the fact, that I was not unemployed in my profession by the late John Jacob Astor; a name which, I admit, I love to repeat, for it hath a rounded and orbicular sound to it, and rings like unto bullion. I will freely add, that I was not insensible to the late John Jacob Astor's good opinion.
What is the effect of the choice of the highlighted word "astonished"?
By modifying the word "eyes" it creates an instance of personification in the text
In contrast with the use of "vague" later in the same sentence, it creates an instance of hyperbole
By modifying the word "eyes" it creates an instance of onomatopoeia
None of these
Explanation
This question tests the test writer's ability to figure out the role of a single word in the formation of a literary device. So, the first step should be to establish the meaning of each of the literary devices named in our answer options. "Personification" occurs when a non-human object or idea has a human emotion or action ascribed to it. "Hyperbole" is extreme exaggeration for literary effect. "Onomatopoeia" refers to words whose sound mirrors their meaning(eg."bang"). Since onomatopoeia is a word that does not require pairing with another word for its effect, we can immediately eliminate this answer choice, which references the pairing of the highlighted word with "eyes." Hyperbole is a tempting option, since "astonished" is a strong word that will often be used to exaggerate; however, this answer option hinges on "astonished" being paired with "vague" later in the sentence, but "vague" is used in a different clause, and is referencing a "report" rather than the author's own impression. This leaves either the option that none of the answer choices is correct, or that the pairing of "eyes" with "astonished" creates a personification...which it does! While "eyes" are a part of the human body, they are not themselves capable of feeling "astonished," which is an emotion. This word pairing could also be argued to be a synecdoche (a part standing for a whole), but this does not preclude the pairing also forming a personification. Eyes, after all, are an object incapable of feeling, so to describe them as astonished is, indeed, an instance of personification.
Adapted from the First Inaugural Address of Thomas Jefferson (March 4th, 1801)
During the contest of opinion through which we have passed, the animation of discussions and of exertions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely and to speak and to write what they think; but this being now decided by the voice of the nation, announced according to the rules of the Constitution, all will, of course, arrange themselves under the will of the law, and unite in common efforts for the common good. All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.
Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. And let us reflect that, having banished from our land that religious intolerance under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convulsions of the ancient world, during the agonizing spasms of infuriated man, seeking through blood and slaughter his long-lost liberty, it was not wonderful that the agitation of the billows should reach even this distant and peaceful shore; that this should be more felt and feared by some and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety.
But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists. If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it. I know, indeed, that some honest men fear that a republican government can not be strong, that this government is not strong enough; but would the honest patriot, in the full tide of successful experiment, abandon a government which has so far kept us free and firm on the theoretic and visionary fear that this government, the world's best hope, may by possibility want energy to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest government on earth. I believe it the only one where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the forms of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
In the context of the whole passage, what is the purpose of the bolded and underlined section?
To encourage a spirit of unity in the United States public
To advocate for the speaker's partisan political positions
To draw a specific distinction between the speaker and his political opponents
To entreat the speaker's own political party to take a more human approach to the impoverished
Explanation
This question seeks to interrogate your ability to recognize the purpose of a specific selection though your understanding of the overall goal and thesis of the passage as a whole. For these types of questions it is absolutely vital that you understand the overall context, tone, and purpose of the entire excerpt before attempting to parse the purpose of the specified section of text.
In this address, Jefferson's main theme and purpose is to encourage his "fellow-citizens \[to\] unite with one heart and one mind." Even without historical knowledge, it should be clear throughout this passage that the country has just come out of a tumultuous election. Jefferson is looking to build unanimity between the fractured parties. In this selection, he reminds people that while the majority does rule, it is necessary to acknowledge the rights of the minority party. By so doing, he hopes to build some unanimity in the country after the tumult and disagreement of this period. While this might actually have been a partisan view at the time, at least in their tone and rhetorical purpose Jefferson's speech advocates for the adoption of unity in principle and in spirit, not as a part of any specific political program.
Adapted from Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence (1920)
It invariably happened in the same way.
Mrs. Julius Beaufort, on the night of her annual ball, never failed to appear at the Opera; indeed, she always gave her ball on an Opera night in order to emphasise her complete superiority to household cares, and her possession of a staff of servants competent to organise every detail of the entertainment in her absence.
The Beauforts' house was one of the few in New York that possessed a ball–room (it antedated even Mrs. Manson Mingott's and the Headly Chiverses'); and at a time when it was beginning to be thought "provincial" to put a "crash" over the drawing–room floor and move the furniture upstairs, the possession of a ball–room that was used for no other purpose, and left for three–hundred–and–sixty–four days of the year to shuttered darkness, with its gilt chairs stacked in a corner and its chandelier in a bag; this undoubted superiority was felt to compensate for whatever was regrettable in the Beaufort past.
Mrs. Archer, who was fond of coining her social philosophy into axioms, had once said: "We all have our pet common people—" and though the phrase was a daring one, its truth was secretly admitted in many an exclusive bosom. But the Beauforts were not exactly common; some people said they were even worse. Mrs. Beaufort belonged indeed to one of America's most honoured families; she had been the lovely Regina Dallas (of the South Carolina branch), a penniless beauty introduced to New York society by her cousin, the imprudent Medora Manson, who was always doing the wrong thing from the right motive. When one was related to the Mansons and the Rushworths one had a "droit de cite" (as Mr. Sillerton Jackson, who had frequented the Tuileries, called it) in New York society; but did one not forfeit it in marrying Julius Beaufort?
The question was: who was Beaufort? He passed for an Englishman, was agreeable, handsome, ill–tempered, hospitable and witty. He had come to America with letters of recommendation from old Mrs. Manson Mingott's English son–in–law, the banker, and had speedily made himself an important position in the world of affairs; but his habits were dissipated, his tongue was bitter, his antecedents were mysterious; and when Medora Manson announced her cousin's engagement to him it was felt to be one more act of folly in poor Medora's long record of imprudences.
But folly is as often justified of her children as wisdom, and two years after young Mrs. Beaufort's marriage it was admitted that she had the most distinguished house in New York. No one knew exactly how the miracle was accomplished. She was indolent, passive, the caustic even called her dull; but dressed like an idol, hung with pearls, growing younger and blonder and more beautiful each year, she throned in Mr. Beaufort's heavy brown–stone palace, and drew all the world there without lifting her jewelled little finger. The knowing people said it was Beaufort himself who trained the servants, taught the chef new dishes, told the gardeners what hot–house flowers to grow for the dinner–table and the drawing–rooms, selected the guests, brewed the after–dinner punch and dictated the little notes his wife wrote to her friends. If he did, these domestic activities were privately performed, and he presented to the world the appearance of a careless and hospitable millionaire strolling into his own drawing–room with the detachment of an invited guest, and saying: "My wife's gloxinias are a marvel, aren't they? I believe she gets them out from Kew."
Mr. Beaufort's secret, people were agreed, was the way he carried things off. It was all very well to whisper that he had been "helped" to leave England by the international banking–house in which he had been employed; he carried off that rumour as easily as the rest—though New York's business conscience was no less sensitive than its moral standard—he carried everything before him, and all New York into his drawing–rooms, and for over twenty years now people had said they were "going to the Beauforts'" with the same tone of security as if they had said they were going to Mrs. Manson Mingott's, and with the added satisfaction of knowing they would get hot canvas–back ducks and vintage wines, instead of tepid Veuve Clicquot without a year and warmed–up croquettes from Philadelphia.
Mrs. Beaufort, then, had as usual appeared in her box just before the Jewel Song; and when, again as usual, she rose at the end of the third act, drew her opera cloak about her lovely shoulders, and disappeared, New York knew that meant that half an hour later the ball would begin.
The underlined and bolded sentence implies that ________________.
Mr. Beaufort is not, in fact, an Englishman
Mr. Beaufort is a conman and a criminal
Mr. Beaufort is an Englishman
Mr. Beaufort is very wealthy
Explanation
The key language to note in the highlighted sentence is the first verb phrase: "\[Mr. Beaufort\] passed for an Englishman." Anytime someone is said to "pass for" something, it carries the strong implication that they are not actually that thing. A shark doesn't need to "pass for" a shark, they just are one! To "pass for" something implies successful artifice. So, it is safe to say (although note that this is implicit, rather than explicit meaning) that Mr. Beaufort is not an Englishman.
To be absolutely certain, let's check the other answer options. The implication of deception inherent to Beaufort's "pass\[ing\] for an Englishman" brings the implications of the sentence closer to the idea that he is conman, but there is no implication that money or crime is involved in this deception. Remember, these questions will only test implications that can be tied directly to textual evidence; the logical leap to equating Beaufort's passing for English to being a conman is simply not credible given the specified evidence. While the rest of the passage lets us know, quite definitively, that he is wealthy, the specific sentence isolated makes no mention of money.
Adapted from Hung Lou Meng, Book I; or, The Dream of the Red Chamber: A Chinese Novel by Cao Xueqin, (c.1716–1763) (trans. H. Bencraft Joly, 1892–93)
\[At this point in the novel, Tai-yü has left her father’s house and traveled to go live with her grandmother.\]
Lin Tai-yü had often heard her mother recount how different was her grandmother's house from that of other people's; and having seen for herself how \[extravagant\] were already the attendants of the three grades, (sent to wait upon her,) in attire, in their fare, in all their articles of use, "how much more," she thought to herself, "now that I am going to her home, must I be careful at every step, and circumspect at every moment! Nor must I utter one word too many, nor make one step more than is proper, for fear lest I should be ridiculed by any of them!”
. . .
An entrance hall stood in the center, in the middle of which was a door-screen of Ta Li marble, set in an ebony frame. In the \[courtyard\] were five parlors, the frieze of the ceiling of which was all carved, and the pillars ornamented. In the side-rooms were suspended cages, full of parrots of every color, thrushes, and birds of every description.
Three or four \[waiting maids\] forthwith vied with each other in raising the door curtain, while at the same time was heard some one announce: "Miss Lin has arrived."
No sooner had she entered the room, than she espied two servants supporting a venerable lady, with silver-white hair, coming forward to greet her. Convinced that this lady must be her grandmother, she was about to prostrate herself and pay her obeisance, when she was quickly clasped in the arms of her grandmother, who held her close against her bosom; and as she called her "My liver! My flesh!" (My love! My darling!) she began to sob aloud.
The bystanders too, at once, without one exception, melted into tears; and Tai-yü herself found some difficulty in restraining her sobs. Little by little the whole party succeeded in consoling her, and Tai-yü at length paid her obeisance to her grandmother. Her ladyship thereupon pointed them out one by one to Tai-yü. "This," she said, "is the wife of your uncle, your mother's elder brother; this is the wife of your uncle, her second brother; and this is your eldest sister-in-law Chu, the wife of your senior cousin Chu."
Tai-yü bowed to each one of them with folded arms.
"Ask the young ladies in," dowager lady Chia went on to say. "Tell them a guest from afar has just arrived, one who comes for the first time; and that they may not go to their lessons."
Not long after three nurses and five or six waiting-maids were seen ushering in three young ladies. In their head ornaments, jewelry, and dress, the get-up of the three young ladies was identical.
Tai-yü speedily rose to greet them and to exchange salutations. After they had made each other's acquaintance, they all took a seat, whereupon the servants brought the tea. Their conversation was confined to Tai-yü's mother—how she had fallen ill, what doctors had attended her, what medicines had been given her, and how she had been buried and mourned. Dowager lady Chia was naturally again in great anguish.
"Of all my daughters," she remarked, "your mother was the one I loved best, and now in a twinkle, she has passed away, before me too, and I've not been able to so much as see her face. How can this not make my heart sore-stricken?"
And as she gave vent to these feelings, she took Tai-yü's hand in hers, and again gave way to sobs, and it was only after the members of the family had quickly made use of much exhortation and coaxing that they succeeded, little by little, in stopping her tears.
They all perceived that Tai-yü, despite her youthful years and appearance, was ladylike in her deportment and address, and that though with her delicate figure and countenance, she seemed as if unable to bear the very weight of her clothes, she possessed, however, a certain captivating air. And as they readily noticed the symptoms of a weak constitution, they went on in consequence to make inquiries as to what medicines she ordinarily took, and how it was that her complaint had not been cured.
Hardly had she finished \[replying\], when a sound of laughter was heard from the back courtyard. "Here I am too late!" the voice said, "and not in time to receive the distant visitor!"
"Every one of all these people," reflected Tai-yü, "holds her peace and suppresses the very breath of her mouth; and who, I wonder, is this coming in this reckless and rude manner?"
The attire of this person bore no similarity to that of the young ladies. In all her splendor and luster, she looked like a fairy or a goddess. On her person, she wore a tight-sleeved jacket, of dark red flowered satin, covered with hundreds of butterflies, embroidered in gold, interspersed with flowers. Her stature was elegant; her figure graceful; her powdered face like dawning spring, majestic, yet not haughty.
Tai-yü eagerly rose and greeted her. She was just at a loss how to address her, when all her cousins informed Tai-yü, that this was her sister-in-law Lien.
Tai-yü lost no time in returning her smile and saluting her with all propriety, addressing her as "my sister-in-law." \[Lien\] laid hold of Tai-yü's hand, and minutely scrutinized her, for a while, from head to foot, after which she led her back next to dowager lady Chia, where they both took a seat.
Which of the following excerpts provides evidence that Tai-yü's sister-in-law Lien is concerned with the details of others' appearances, not only her own?
"\[She\] laid hold of Tai-yü's hand, and minutely scrutinised her, for a while, from head to foot; after which she led her back next to dowager lady Chia, where they both took a seat."
"Her stature was elegant; her figure graceful; her powdered face like dawning spring, majestic, yet not haughty."
"Hardly had she finished \[replying\], when a sound of laughter was heard from the back courtyard. 'Here I am too late!" the voice said, "and not in time to receive the distant visitor!'"
"On her person, she wore a tight-sleeved jacket, of dark red flowered satin, covered with hundreds of butterflies, embroidered in gold, interspersed with flowers."
Explanation
Lien is only introduced at the end of the passage, so this narrows the part of the passage we have to analyze. Let's consider her introduction now. Tai-yü is talking with her relatives who have arrived to meet her on time when Lien is introduced:
Hardly had she finished \[replying\], when a sound of laughter was heard from the back courtyard. "Here I am too late!" the voice said, "and not in time to receive the distant visitor!"
"Every one of all these people," reflected Tai-yü, "holds her peace and suppresses the very breath of her mouth; and who, I wonder, is this coming in this reckless and rude manner?"
The attire of this person bore no similarity to that of the young ladies. In all her splendor and luster, she looked like a fairy or a goddess. On her person, she wore a tight-sleeved jacket, of dark red flowered satin, covered with hundreds of butterflies, embroidered in gold, interspersed with flowers. Her stature was elegant; her figure graceful; her powdered face like dawning spring, majestic, yet not haughty.
Tai-yü eagerly rose and greeted her. She was just at a loss how to address her, when all her cousins informed Tai-yü, that this was her sister-in-law Lien.
Tai-yü lost no time in returning her smile and saluting her with all propriety, addressing her as my sister-in-law. \[She\] laid hold of Tai-yü's hand, and minutely scrutinised her, for a while, from head to foot; after which she led her back next to dowager lady Chia, where they both took a seat.
To answer this question correctly, you need to pay attention to what it is asking specifically. It is not asking for evidence that Lien is concerned with the details of her own appearance: it is asking for evidence that in addition to that, she is concerned with the details of others' appearances. If you misread the question and thought that it was asking for evidence that Lien is concerned with the details of her own appearance, "On her person, she wore a tight-sleeved jacket, of dark red flowered satin, covered with hundreds of butterflies, embroidered in gold, interspersed with flowers." might seem like a potentially correct answer choice, as it describes the details of Lien's appearance and suggests that she has paid attention to these details; however, this is not the correct answer. Neither is the sentence describing Lien's laugh at arriving late to meet Tai-yü, nor is the answer choice describing Lien's stature and face. These have nothing to do with the appearances of others.
The only answer choice that provides evidence that Lien cares about the details of others' appearances is "\[She\] laid hold of Tai-yü's hand, and minutely scrutinised her, for a while, from head to foot; after which she led her back next to dowager lady Chia, where they both took a seat." In this sentence, Lien "minutely scrutiniz\[es\]" Tai-yü; that is, she considers the details of her appearance very carefully. This could serve as evidence supporting the claim that Lien cares about the details of others' appearances.
Adapted from Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence (1920)
It invariably happened in the same way.
Mrs. Julius Beaufort, on the night of her annual ball, never failed to appear at the Opera; indeed, she always gave her ball on an Opera night in order to emphasise her complete superiority to household cares, and her possession of a staff of servants competent to organise every detail of the entertainment in her absence.
The Beauforts' house was one of the few in New York that possessed a ball–room (it antedated even Mrs. Manson Mingott's and the Headly Chiverses'); and at a time when it was beginning to be thought "provincial" to put a "crash" over the drawing–room floor and move the furniture upstairs, the possession of a ball–room that was used for no other purpose, and left for three–hundred–and–sixty–four days of the year to shuttered darkness, with its gilt chairs stacked in a corner and its chandelier in a bag; this undoubted superiority was felt to compensate for whatever was regrettable in the Beaufort past.
Mrs. Archer, who was fond of coining her social philosophy into axioms, had once said: "We all have our pet common people—" and though the phrase was a daring one, its truth was secretly admitted in many an exclusive bosom. But the Beauforts were not exactly common; some people said they were even worse. Mrs. Beaufort belonged indeed to one of America's most honoured families; she had been the lovely Regina Dallas (of the South Carolina branch), a penniless beauty introduced to New York society by her cousin, the imprudent Medora Manson, who was always doing the wrong thing from the right motive. When one was related to the Mansons and the Rushworths one had a "droit de cite" (as Mr. Sillerton Jackson, who had frequented the Tuileries, called it) in New York society; but did one not forfeit it in marrying Julius Beaufort?
The question was: who was Beaufort? He passed for an Englishman, was agreeable, handsome, ill–tempered, hospitable and witty. He had come to America with letters of recommendation from old Mrs. Manson Mingott's English son–in–law, the banker, and had speedily made himself an important position in the world of affairs; but his habits were dissipated, his tongue was bitter, his antecedents were mysterious; and when Medora Manson announced her cousin's engagement to him it was felt to be one more act of folly in poor Medora's long record of imprudences.
But folly is as often justified of her children as wisdom, and two years after young Mrs. Beaufort's marriage it was admitted that she had the most distinguished house in New York. No one knew exactly how the miracle was accomplished. She was indolent, passive, the caustic even called her dull; but dressed like an idol, hung with pearls, growing younger and blonder and more beautiful each year, she throned in Mr. Beaufort's heavy brown–stone palace, and drew all the world there without lifting her jewelled little finger. The knowing people said it was Beaufort himself who trained the servants, taught the chef new dishes, told the gardeners what hot–house flowers to grow for the dinner–table and the drawing–rooms, selected the guests, brewed the after–dinner punch and dictated the little notes his wife wrote to her friends. If he did, these domestic activities were privately performed, and he presented to the world the appearance of a careless and hospitable millionaire strolling into his own drawing–room with the detachment of an invited guest, and saying: "My wife's gloxinias are a marvel, aren't they? I believe she gets them out from Kew."
Mr. Beaufort's secret, people were agreed, was the way he carried things off. It was all very well to whisper that he had been "helped" to leave England by the international banking–house in which he had been employed; he carried off that rumour as easily as the rest—though New York's business conscience was no less sensitive than its moral standard—he carried everything before him, and all New York into his drawing–rooms, and for over twenty years now people had said they were "going to the Beauforts'" with the same tone of security as if they had said they were going to Mrs. Manson Mingott's, and with the added satisfaction of knowing they would get hot canvas–back ducks and vintage wines, instead of tepid Veuve Clicquot without a year and warmed–up croquettes from Philadelphia.
Mrs. Beaufort, then, had as usual appeared in her box just before the Jewel Song; and when, again as usual, she rose at the end of the third act, drew her opera cloak about her lovely shoulders, and disappeared, New York knew that meant that half an hour later the ball would begin.
The underlined and bolded sentence implies that ________________.
Mr. Beaufort is not, in fact, an Englishman
Mr. Beaufort is a conman and a criminal
Mr. Beaufort is an Englishman
Mr. Beaufort is very wealthy
Explanation
The key language to note in the highlighted sentence is the first verb phrase: "\[Mr. Beaufort\] passed for an Englishman." Anytime someone is said to "pass for" something, it carries the strong implication that they are not actually that thing. A shark doesn't need to "pass for" a shark, they just are one! To "pass for" something implies successful artifice. So, it is safe to say (although note that this is implicit, rather than explicit meaning) that Mr. Beaufort is not an Englishman.
To be absolutely certain, let's check the other answer options. The implication of deception inherent to Beaufort's "pass\[ing\] for an Englishman" brings the implications of the sentence closer to the idea that he is conman, but there is no implication that money or crime is involved in this deception. Remember, these questions will only test implications that can be tied directly to textual evidence; the logical leap to equating Beaufort's passing for English to being a conman is simply not credible given the specified evidence. While the rest of the passage lets us know, quite definitively, that he is wealthy, the specific sentence isolated makes no mention of money.
Adapted from Lewis Carroll’s Symbolic Logic (1896)
“Classification,” or the formation of Classes, is a Mental Process, in which we imagine that we have put together, in a group, certain Things. Such a group is called a “Class.” This Process may be performed in three different ways, as follows:
(1) We may imagine that we have put together all Things. The Class so formed (i.e. the Class "Things") contains the whole Universe.
(2) We may think of the Class "Things," and may imagine that we have picked out from it all the Things which possess a certain Adjunct not possessed by the whole Class. This Adjunct is said to be “peculiar” to the Class so formed. In this case, the Class "Things" is called a “Genus” with regard to the Class so formed: the Class, so formed, is called a 'Species' of the Class "Things": and its peculiar Adjunct is called its “Differentia.”
As this Process is entirely Mental, we can perform it whether there is, or is not, an existing Thing which pos- sesses that Adjunct. If there is, the Class us said to be “Real;” if not, it is said to be “Unreal,” or “Imaginary.”
\[For example, we may imagine that we have picked out, from the Class "Things," all the Things which possess the Adjunct "material, artificial, consisting of houses and street"; and we may thus form the Real Class "towns." Here we may regard "Things" as a Genus, "Towns" as a Species of Things, and "material, artificial, consisting of houses and streets" as its Differentia. Again, we may imagine that we have picked out all the Things which possess the Adjunct "weighing a ton, easily lifted by a baby"; and we may thus form the Imaginary Class "Things that weigh a ton and are easily lifted by a baby."\]
(3) We may think of a certain Class, not the Class "Things," and may imagine that we have picked out from it all the Members of it which possess a certain Adjunct not possessed by the whole Class. This Adjunct is said to be “peculiar” to the smaller Class so formed. In this case, the Class thought of is called a “Genus” with regard to the smaller Class picked out from it: the smaller Class is called a “Species” of the larger: and its peculiar Adjunct is called its “Differentia.”
\[For example, we may think of the Class "towns," and imagine that we have picked out from it all the towns which possess the Attribute "lit with gas"; and we may thus form the Real Class "towns lit with gas." Here may regard "Towns" as a Genus, "Towns lit with gas" as a Species of Towns, and "lit with gas" as its Differentia. If, in the above example, we were to alter "lit with gas" into "paved with gold," we should get the Imaginary Class "towns paved with gold."\]
A Class, containing only one Member is called an “Individual.”
\[For example, the Class "towns having four million inhabitants," which Class contains only one Member, viz. "London."\]
Hence, any single Thing, which we can name so as to distinguish it from all other Things, may be regarded as a one-Member Class.
\[Thus "London" may be regarded as the one-Member Class, picked out from the Class "towns," which has, as its Differentia, "having four million inhabitants."\]
A Class, containing two or more Members, is sometimes regarded as one single Thing. When so regarded, it may possess an Adjunct which is not possessed by any Member of it taken separately.
\[Thus, the Class "The soldiers of the Tenth Regiment," when regarded as one single Thing, may possess the Attribute "formed in square," which is not possessed by any Member of it taken separately.\]
What is the purpose of the highlighted section in the passage's overall argument?
It provides a key definition
It provides and illustrative example
It provides a solution to a perceived counter-argument
It supports the thesis with an allegorical example
Explanation
Here, you are being asked to analyze a particular section of the text in terms of its relevance to the overall passage and rhetorical strategies employed by the author.
The best place to begin, then, is by reading that section and making your own independent assessment of it. Fortunately for us, the selection here is only one sentence long, so it shouldn't take us too long. The first notable feature of our sentence is that "Class," the term being discussed is capitalized, emphasizing it as a key term. The class (defined earlier in the passage) is here modified as "containing only on member," and then given a name "Individual." Again, there is a notable textual feature associated with this term; it has been placed between quotation marks. These clues, in addition to the literal meaning of the sentence, push us toward our own independent understanding that the purpose of this section is provide a key definition. And, lo and behold, that answer is available to us!