Reading Comprehension

Three kinds of study have been performed on
Byron. There is the biographical study-the very
valuable examination of Byron's psychology and the
events in his life. Escarpit's 1958 work is an example
(5) of this kind of study and biographers to this day
continue to speculate about Byron's life. Equally
valuable is the study of Byron as a figure important
in the history of ideas; Russell and Praz have
written studies of this kind. Finally, there are
(10) studies that primarily consider Byron's poetry. Such
literary studies are valuable, however, only when
they avoid concentrating solely on analyzing the
verbal shadings of Byron's poetry to the exclusion of
any discussion of biographical considerations. A
(15) study with such a concentration would be of
questionable value because Byron's poetry, for the
most part, is simply not a poetry of subtle verbal
meanings. Rather, on the whole, Byron's poems
record the emotional pressure of certain moments
(20) in his life. I believe we cannot often read a poem of
Byron's we often can one of Shakespeare's
without wondering what events or circumstances in
his life prompted him to write it.

No doubt the fact that most of Byron's poems
(25) cannot be convincingly read as subtle verbal
creations indicates that Byron is not a "great" poet.
It must be admitted too that Byron's literary
craftsmanship is irregular and often his
temperament disrupts even his lax literary method
(30 ) (although the result, an absence of method, has a
significant purpose: it functions as a rebuke to a
cosmos that Byron feels he cannot understand). If
Byron is not a "great" poet, his poetry is
nonetheless of extraordinary interest to us because
(35) of the pleasure it gives us. Our main pleasure in
reading Byron's poetry is the contact with a singular
personality. Reading his work gives us
illumination-self-understanding-after we have
seen our weaknesses and aspirations mirrored in
(40) the personality we usually find in the poems.
Anyone who thinks that this kind of illumination is
not a genuine reason for reading a poet should
think carefully about why we read Donne's sonnets.
It is Byron and Byron's idea of himself that hold
(45) his work together (and that enthralled early
nineteenth-century Europe). Different characters
speak in his poems, but finally it is usually he
himself who is speaking: a far cry from the
impersonal poet Keats. Byron's poetry alludes to
(50) Greek and Roman myth in the context of
contemporary affairs, but his work remains
generally of a piece because of his close presence in
the poetry. In sum, the poetry is a shrewd personal
performance, and to shut out Byron the man is to
(55) fabricate a work of pseudocriticism.

1. Which one of the following titles best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) An Absence of Method. Why Byron Is Not a "Great" Poet

(B) Byron: The Recurring Presence in Byron's Poetry

(C) Personality and Poetry: The Biographical Dimension of Nineteenth-Century Poetry

(D) Byron's Poetry: Its Influence on the imagination of Early-Nineteenth-Century Europe

(E) Verbal Shadings: The Fatal Flaw of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism

2. The author's mention of Russell and Praz serves primarily to

(A) differentiate them from one another

(B) contrast their conclusions about Byron with those of Escarpit

(C) point out the writers whose studies suggest a new direction for Byron scholarship

(D) provide examples of writers who have written one kind of study of Byron

(E) give credit to the writers who have composed the best studies of Byron

3. Which one of the following would the author most likely consider to be a valuable study of Byron?

(A) a study that compared Byron's poetic style with Keats' poetic style

(B) a study that argued that Byron's thought ought not to be analyzed in terms of its importance in the history of ideas

(C) a study that sought to identify the emotions felt by Byron at a particular time in his life

(D) a study in which a literary critic argues that the language of Byron's poetry was more subtle than that of Keat's poetry

(E) a study in which a literary critic drew on experiences from his or her own life

4. Which one of the following statements best describes the organization of first paragraph of the passage?

(A) A generalization is made and then gradually refuted.
(B) A number of theories are discussed and then the author chooses the most convincing one.
(C) Several categories are mentioned and then one category is discussed in some detail.
(D) A historical trend is delineated and then a prediction about the future of the trend is offered.
(E) A classification is made and then a rival classification is substituted in its place.


5. The author mentions that "Byron's literary craftsmanship is irregular" (lines 27-28) most probably in order to
(A) contrast Byron's poetic skill with that of Shakespeare
(B) dismiss craftsmanship as a standard by which to judge poets
(C) offer another reason why Byron is not a "great" poet
(D) point out a negative consequence of Byron's belief that the cosmos is incomprehensible
(E) indicate the most-often-cited explanation of why Byron's poetry lacks subtle verbal nuances


6. According to the author Shakespeare's poems differ from Byron's in that Shakespeare's poems

(A) have elicited a wider variety of responses from both literary critics and biographers
(B) are on the whole less susceptible to being read as subtle verbal creations
(C) do not grow out of or are not motivated by actual events or circumstances in the poet's life
(D) provide the attentive reader with a greater degree of illumination concerning his or her own weaknesses and aspirations
(E) can often be read without the reader's being curious about what biographical factors motivated the poet to write them

7. The author indicates which one of the following about biographers' speculation concerning Byron's life?

(A) Such speculation began in earnest with Escarpit's study
(B) Such speculation continues today
(C) Such speculation is less important than consideration of Byron's poetry
(D) Such speculation has not given us a satisfactory sense of Byron's life
(E) Such speculation has been carried out despite the objections of literary critics

8. The passage supplies specific information that provides a definitive answer to which one of the following questions?

(A) What does the author consider to be the primary enjoyment derived from reading Byron?
(B) Who among literary critics has primarily studied Byron's poems?
(C) Which moments in Byron's life exerted the greatest pressure on his poetry?
(D) Has Byron ever been considered to be a "great" poet?
(E) Did Byron exert an influence on Europeans in the latter part of the nineteenth century?

A typical 700+ dry passage. Thanks for posting in here. My take:



1-A
2-D
3-C
4-C
5-B
6-B
7-B
8-A

My take

1.B
2.D
3.C
4.C
5.C
6.E
7.B
8.A

whats the OA ?

my answers:
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. B
7. B
8. A

Took me 13 minutes to complete....a lot of time!. Here is my answer list:
1. B
2. D
3. C
4. C
5. D
6. E
7. B
8. A

Whats the OA?

xyztroy wrote:my answers:
1. A
2. D
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. B
7. B
8. A

My answers:

1 - C
2 - D
3 - C
4 - B
5 - B
6 - E
7 - B
8 - A

B
D
C
C
C
C
B
A

What is the OA

my answers are

1. B
2. D
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. C
7. B
8. A

WHY DONT you post the OA's, otherwise wats the point .....one needs to know whter those 13 min spent were fruitful or not.

OA for this passage is

1 B
2 D
3 C
4 C
5 C
6 E
7 B
8 A

Found it on the internet

abhasjha wrote:Three kinds of study have been performed on
Byron. There is the biographical study-the very
valuable examination of Byron's psychology and the
events in his life. Escarpit's 1958 work is an example
(5) of this kind of study and biographers to this day
continue to speculate about Byron's life. Equally
valuable is the study of Byron as a figure important
in the history of ideas; Russell and Praz have
written studies of this kind. Finally, there are
(10) studies that primarily consider Byron's poetry. Such
literary studies are valuable, however, only when
they avoid concentrating solely on analyzing the
verbal shadings of Byron's poetry to the exclusion of
any discussion of biographical considerations. A
(15) study with such a concentration would be of
questionable value because Byron's poetry, for the
most part, is simply not a poetry of subtle verbal
meanings. Rather, on the whole, Byron's poems
record the emotional pressure of certain moments
(20) in his life. I believe we cannot often read a poem of
Byron's we often can one of Shakespeare's
without wondering what events or circumstances in
his life prompted him to write it.

No doubt the fact that most of Byron's poems
(25) cannot be convincingly read as subtle verbal
creations indicates that Byron is not a "great" poet.
It must be admitted too that Byron's literary
craftsmanship is irregular and often his
temperament disrupts even his lax literary method
(30 ) (although the result, an absence of method, has a
significant purpose: it functions as a rebuke to a
cosmos that Byron feels he cannot understand). If
Byron is not a "great" poet, his poetry is
nonetheless of extraordinary interest to us because
(35) of the pleasure it gives us. Our main pleasure in
reading Byron's poetry is the contact with a singular
personality. Reading his work gives us
illumination-self-understanding-after we have
seen our weaknesses and aspirations mirrored in
(40) the personality we usually find in the poems.
Anyone who thinks that this kind of illumination is
not a genuine reason for reading a poet should
think carefully about why we read Donne's sonnets.
It is Byron and Byron's idea of himself that hold
(45) his work together (and that enthralled early
nineteenth-century Europe). Different characters
speak in his poems, but finally it is usually he
himself who is speaking: a far cry from the
impersonal poet Keats. Byron's poetry alludes to
(50) Greek and Roman myth in the context of
contemporary affairs, but his work remains
generally of a piece because of his close presence in
the poetry. In sum, the poetry is a shrewd personal
performance, and to shut out Byron the man is to
(55) fabricate a work of pseudocriticism.

1. Which one of the following titles best expresses the main idea of the passage?

(A) An Absence of Method. Why Byron Is Not a "Great" Poet

(B) Byron: The Recurring Presence in Byron's Poetry

(C) Personality and Poetry: The Biographical Dimension of Nineteenth-Century Poetry

(D) Byron's Poetry: Its Influence on the imagination of Early-Nineteenth-Century Europe

(E) Verbal Shadings: The Fatal Flaw of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism

2. The author's mention of Russell and Praz serves primarily to

(A) differentiate them from one another

(B) contrast their conclusions about Byron with those of Escarpit

(C) point out the writers whose studies suggest a new direction for Byron scholarship

(D) provide examples of writers who have written one kind of study of Byron

(E) give credit to the writers who have composed the best studies of Byron

3. Which one of the following would the author most likely consider to be a valuable study of Byron?

(A) a study that compared Byron's poetic style with Keats' poetic style

(B) a study that argued that Byron's thought ought not to be analyzed in terms of its importance in the history of ideas

(C) a study that sought to identify the emotions felt by Byron at a particular time in his life

(D) a study in which a literary critic argues that the language of Byron's poetry was more subtle than that of Keat's poetry

(E) a study in which a literary critic drew on experiences from his or her own life

4. Which one of the following statements best describes the organization of first paragraph of the passage?

(A) A generalization is made and then gradually refuted.
(B) A number of theories are discussed and then the author chooses the most convincing one.
(C) Several categories are mentioned and then one category is discussed in some detail.
(D) A historical trend is delineated and then a prediction about the future of the trend is offered.
(E) A classification is made and then a rival classification is substituted in its place.


5. The author mentions that "Byron's literary craftsmanship is irregular" (lines 27-28) most probably in order to
(A) contrast Byron's poetic skill with that of Shakespeare
(B) dismiss craftsmanship as a standard by which to judge poets
(C) offer another reason why Byron is not a "great" poet
(D) point out a negative consequence of Byron's belief that the cosmos is incomprehensible
(E) indicate the most-often-cited explanation of why Byron's poetry lacks subtle verbal nuances


6. According to the author Shakespeare's poems differ from Byron's in that Shakespeare's poems

(A) have elicited a wider variety of responses from both literary critics and biographers
(B) are on the whole less susceptible to being read as subtle verbal creations
(C) do not grow out of or are not motivated by actual events or circumstances in the poet's life
(D) provide the attentive reader with a greater degree of illumination concerning his or her own weaknesses and aspirations
(E) can often be read without the reader's being curious about what biographical factors motivated the poet to write them

7. The author indicates which one of the following about biographers' speculation concerning Byron's life?

(A) Such speculation began in earnest with Escarpit's study
(B) Such speculation continues today
(C) Such speculation is less important than consideration of Byron's poetry
(D) Such speculation has not given us a satisfactory sense of Byron's life
(E) Such speculation has been carried out despite the objections of literary critics

8. The passage supplies specific information that provides a definitive answer to which one of the following questions?

(A) What does the author consider to be the primary enjoyment derived from reading Byron?
(B) Who among literary critics has primarily studied Byron's poems?
(C) Which moments in Byron's life exerted the greatest pressure on his poetry?
(D) Has Byron ever been considered to be a "great" poet?
(E) Did Byron exert an influence on Europeans in the latter part of the nineteenth century?

My Take

1. B
2. D
3. C
4. C
5. C
6. E
7. B
8. A

What is the OA

My take is BDCBCEBA.

I have a problem with Q4. Why is the 1st para talking about several categories, when in contrast it is presenting three theories of poet's life.