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- 1. Multiple Choice
42. In the context of the entire passage, the word
“anecdote” (line 1) is best understood to mean
(A) an unreliable secondhand account
(B) an official government document
(C) a narrative in the style of a morality play
(D) an informal story involving personal details
(E) a timeless legend
- 2. Multiple Choice
43. The author portrays the critics mentioned in
line 2 as people who are likely to
(A) identify with the public at large
(B) become the subjects of biography
(C) be profoundly philosophical
(D) keep diaries themselves
(E) prefer formal history
- 3. Multiple Choice
44. The author’s strategy in lines 1-8 is to
(A) flatter those who would criticize popular
opinions
(B) incite readers to act in a manner inconsistent
with their beliefs
(C) moralize about the injustices present in society
(D) build a logical argument and support it with
facts from history
(E) promote an impression of sympathy with
public preferences
- 4. Multiple Choice
45. In the context of the passage, the reason that few
who read history “derive any advantage from their
labors” (lines 7-8) is that
(A) the common reader is unable to appreciate
what he or she reads
(B) the historian’s preoccupation with facts makes
for dull reading
(C) the focus of history on the distant past is too
remote for most readers
(D) the historian tends to present historical figures
unrealistically
(E) most historical accounts tend to moralize
- 5. Multiple Choice
46. In line 13, “their fate” refers to the fate of
(A) readers
(B) literary critics
(C) historical figures
(D) fictional characters
(E) victims of misfortune
- 6. Multiple Choice
47. The author suggests that the preference of many
readers for “secret memoirs and private anecdotes”
(lines 16-17) is
(A) a reprehensible reaction in terms of its
consequences
(B) a grudging response to heroic lives
(C) an unfortunate lapse in propriety
(D) a justifiable form of curiosity
(E) a natural result of a love of fiction
- 7. Multiple Choice
48. In context, the phrase “half-finished sentences”
(line 21) can best be described as
(A) an allusion to ineffective style
(B) a reference to informal candor
(C) an apology for incomplete histories
(D) a symbol of the arrogance of great people
(E) an ironic statement about fastidiousness
- 8. Multiple Choice
49. In the context of the sentence in which it occurs,
the phrase “consistently with his dignity”
(line 37) points out
(A) the conflict between decorum and thorough-
ness for the historian
(B) the loss of esteem suffered by the historian
(C) the social gulf between historians and
biographers
(D) the expertise that the historian brings to a work
(E) public disdain for undignified narrative
- 9. Multiple Choice
50. The sentence “Some may . . . talents” (lines 45-50)
includes all of the following EXCEPT a
(A) personal anecdote
(B) paradoxical statement
(C) premise for consideration
(D) refutation of an assumption
(E) logical extension of ideas expressed in the
first paragraph
- 10. Multiple Choice
51. The purpose of the sentence “A plain . . . narrative”
(lines 50-51) is to
(A) propose a self-contradictory opinion for
consideration
(B) elaborate on a specific anecdote
(C) shift the thematic focus considerably
(D) develop a statement made in the previous
sentence
E) create a stylistic effect through literary
allusion
- 11. Multiple Choice
52. The author uses the phrase “highly ornamented
narrative” (line 51) to refer to the type of writing
that is
(A) preferred by most readers
(B) produced by biographers skilled at writing
(C) found in secret journals
(D) presented most realistically
(E) rejected by historians
- 12. Multiple Choice
53. In the final sentence (lines 51-56), the author
presents “the rounding of a period” and “the
pointing an antithesis” as examples of
(A) techniques ignored by most historians
(B) flourishes that can obscure truth
(C) inaccuracies that can slip into biographies
(D) techniques that appeal to most readers
(E) fine points that historical writers should
employ
- 13. Multiple Choice
54. Taken as a whole, the passage is best described as
(A) an indignant response to a personal affront
(B) a documented presentation of facts
(C) a casual reaction to a problem
(D) an extended definition of a term
(E) an argument employing illustrative
comparisons
- 14. Multiple Choice
55. Of the following contrasts, which pertains most
directly to the theme of the passage?
(A) “sublime” (line 11) and “diabolical” (line 11)
motives
(B) “antient” (line 14) and “modern” (line 14)
histories
(C) “their appearance in public” (lines 19-20) and
“their real characters” (lines 22-23)
(D) “great” (line 29) and “insignificant” (line 30)
persons
(E) “virtue” (line 33) and “vice” (line 33)
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