Both Darkly Comic and Tragic Deeply, Guy's Biography of the 12th Archbishop of Canterbury

Reading Passage Question

Both Darkly Comic and Tragic deeply, Guy's biography of the 12th Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket Sir, is a Portrait of a saint with Plenty of Shadows. Does it Diminish Becket for us to know that this future martyr in a hair shirt (clothing worn by ascetics) also made sure to keep a fine silk robe handy for his return to Canterbury, a stately progress one chronicler compared to Christ's entry into Jerusalem? That his abstemious diet was partly the result of a lifelong susceptibility to chronic, and debilitating, indigestion? That one of his oldest and closest friends would have found his canonization "utterly absurd"? Only if we prefer the black-and-white certainties of hagiography to the convincingly human portrayal of a charismatic, contradictory individual who was, as Guy puts it, "as prickly as he was smooth... a man with the habits of a hedgehog.

“Both Darkly Comic and Tragic deeply, Guy's biography of the 12th Archbishop of Canterbury”- is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 2 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The primary purpose of this passage is to

1. provide insight into the contradictions of a historical figure
2. enumerate the shortcomings of a piece of literature
3. praise a work for favoring a complex portrayal over a simple one
4. criticize practices particular to a certain time
5. present a balanced depiction of a well-known historical person

2. The author’s tone towards Guy’s biography of Becket can best be described as

1. apologetic
2. neutral
3. ambivalent
4. sardonic
5. appreciative

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