Official Reading Comprehension Question

[eee062010]

Source:
Practice Book for the Paper-based GRE® revised General Test

In early-twentieth-century England, it was to claim that only a completely new style of writing could address a world undergoing unprecedented transformation— just as one literary critic recently claimed that only the new “aesthetic of exploratory excess” can address a world under going well, you know. Yet in early twentieth century England, T. S. Eliot, a man fascinated by the “presence” of the past, wrote the most innovative poetry of his time. The lesson for today’s literary community seems obvious: a reorientation toward tradition would benefit writers no less than readers. But if our writers and critics indeed respect the novel’s rich tradition (as they claim to), then why do they disdain the urge to tell an exciting story?



23. The author of the passage suggests that present-day readers would particularly benefit from which of the following changes on the part of present-day writers and critics?
A An increased focus on the importance of engaging the audience in a narrative
B Modernization of the traditional novelistic elements already familiar to readers
C Embracing aspects of fiction that are generally peripheral to the interest of readers
D A greater recognition of how the tradition of the novel has changed over time
E A better understanding of how certain poets such as Eliot have influenced fiction of the present time


Which part of the paragraph signal that the answer should be A?

[tommywallach]

Hey eee,

Don't know where you got this passage, but either it's definitely NOT from the real GRE, or else you copied it down wrong. At one point it says:

just as one literary critic recently claimed that only the new “aesthetic of exploratory excess” can address a world under going well, you know.

That's just plain gibberish!

-t

[eee062010]

In early-twentieth-century England, it was fashionable to claim that only a completely new style of writing could address a world undergoing unprecedented transformation— just as one literary critic recently claimed that only the new “aesthetic of exploratory excess” can address a world undergoing........ well, you know. Yet in early twentieth century England, T. S. Eliot, a man fascinated by the “presence” of the past, wrote the most innovative poetry of his time. The lesson for today’s literary community seems obvious: a reorientation toward tradition would benefit writers no less than readers. But if our writers and critics indeed respect the novel’s rich tradition (as they claim to), then why do they disdain the urge to tell an exciting story?

[tommywallach]

Aha! Thanks for the rewrite. Now, to the question.

23. The author of the passage suggests that present-day readers would particularly benefit from which of the following changes on the part of present-day writers and critics?
A An increased focus on the importance of engaging the audience in a narrative

CORRECT. The author says "The lesson for today’s literary community seems obvious: a reorientation toward tradition would benefit writers no less than readers. But if our writers and critics indeed respect the novel’s rich tradition (as they claim to), then why do they disdain the urge to tell an exciting story?" The first sentence tells us that writers should reorient towards tradition. It then says that writers CLAIM to respect tradition, but they FAIL to tell an exciting story. That means that tradition would tell them to write an exciting story, which they are not doing. If they moved TOWARD tradition, they would write exciting stories. This supports (A), because "engage the audience in a narrative" is the same as "write exciting stories."

B Modernization of the traditional novelistic elements already familiar to readers

WRONG. The author wants actual tradition, not the modernization of tradition.

C Embracing aspects of fiction that are generally peripheral to the interest of readers

WRONG. The author wants a renewed focus on what readers actually want.

D A greater recognition of how the tradition of the novel has changed over time

WRONG. The author doesn't seem to care about recognition for the changing of the novel. The author wants writers to write differently!

E A better understanding of how certain poets such as Eliot have influenced fiction of the present time

WRONG. Same problem as (D). The author isn't arguing for more understanding of poetry, but for a different kind of writing.

Hope that helps!

-t