wondered all.
I could not tell how, but I had movies, and Passage 2 does not mention any “other
left the temple a devotee, and was returned a
rationalist. The same things were there
materially; but the emblem, the reference,
85 was gone. The green curtain was no longer a
veil, drawn between two worlds, the unfold-
ing of which was to bring back past ages, but
a certain quantity of green material, which
was to separate the audience for a given time
90 from certain of their fellows who were to
come forward and pretend those parts. The
lights—the orchestra lights—came up a
clumsy machinery. The first ring, and the
second ring, was now but a trick of the
95 prompter’s bell. The actors were men and
women painted. I thought the fault was in
them; but it was in myself, and the alteration
which those many centuries—those six
short years—had wrought in me.
* Pilasters are ornamental columns set into walls.
Following are four sample questions about this pair of
related passages. In the test, some questions will focus on
Passage 1, others will focus on Passage 2, and about half or
more of the questions following each pair of passages will
focus on the relationships between the passages.
Some questions require you to identify shared ideas or simi-
larities between the two related passages.
9. The authors of both passages describe
(A) a young person’s sense of wonder at first
seeing a play
(B) a young person’s desire to become a
playwright
(C) the similarities between plays and other art forms
(D) how one’s perception of the theater may
develop over time
(E) the experience of reading a play and then
seeing it performed
To answer this question, you have to figure out what these
two passages have in common. The subject of Passage 1 is
a child’s first visit to see a play performed in a theater, and
how captivated he was by the entire experience. Passage 2
describes two different visits to the theater; at age six the
child is entranced by the spectacle of the performance but,
“after the intervention of six or seven years,” the older and
now more knowledgeable child is not so impressed. (A) is
the correct answer because all of Passage 1 and the first
half of Passage 2 describe “a young person’s sense of won-
der at first seeing a play.”
● (B) is wrong; even though the introduction to
these passages reveals that one of the authors is a
“playwright,” there is no mention in either passage
of a “desire to become a playwright.”
● (C) is wrong because Passage 1 mentions differ-
ences rather than “similarities” between plays and
art forms” at all.
● (D) is wrong because only Passage 2 discusses “how
one’s perception of the theater may develop over
time”—this subject is unmentioned in Passage 1.
● (E) is wrong because there is no reference in either
passage to “the experience of reading a play.”
Correct answer: (A) / Difficulty level: Easy
Some questions assess your comprehension of information
that is directly stated in a passage.
10. The “happenings” mentioned in line 14 refer to the
(A) work undertaken to produce a movie
(B) events occurring in the street outside the theater
(C) fantasies imagined by a child
(D) activity captured on the movie screen
(E) story unfolding on the stage
To answer this question correctly, you have to understand
lines 11–15, a rather complex sentence that makes an
important distinction in Passage 1. The author indicates
that, unlike plays, movies leave “the mind’s grasp of reality
intact,” because the “happenings” in a movie are not occur-
ring in the actual theater. Instead, images are projected on
a screen in the theater. Thus (D) is the correct answer; the
word “happenings” refers to the “activity captured on the
movie screen.”
● (A) and (B) are wrong because, when you insert
them in place of the word “happenings,” the sen-
tence in lines 11–15 makes no sense.
● (C) is wrong; even if the movies being referred to
include “fantasies” in them, they are not “imagined
by a child” but are actually projected on the movie
screen.
● (E) is wrong because, in line 14, “happenings”
refers to the “story unfolding” in a movie, not “on
the stage.”
Correct answer: (D) / Difficulty level: Medium
You may be asked to recognize the author’s tone or attitude in
a particular part of a passage, or in the passage as a whole.
11. In the final sentence of Passage 2 (“I thought . . . in
me”), the author expresses
(A) exultation (B) vindication (C) pleasure
(D) regret (E) guilt
Even though this question focuses on a single sentence,
you must understand the context in which the statement
occurs in order to determine the feeling expressed by the
author. In the second paragraph of Passage 2, the author
states that the experience of attending a play at age 12 or
13 was much different than at age 6. “The same things were
there materially” in the theater, but the older child knew
much more than the younger one about what was going
The Critical Reading Section 11