During and Immediately After a War, Hollywood Films Typically Trumpet the Glory of Sacrifice

Reading Passage Question

During and immediately after a war, Hollywood films typically trumpet the glory of sacrifice and unquestioning patriotism. Ten to fifteen years later, however, morally fraught and sometimes pacifistic movies about the conflict typically emerge. For example, after America joined World War I in 1917, the still infant film industry glorified the fight against “the Hun.” But by the early 1930s, films such as All Quiet on the Western Front did not shy away from depicting the horrors of combat and the disillusionment of soldiers. After World War II began, the cycle repeated itself. Guadalcanal Diary, produced during the second world war, portrayed “the ultimate sacrifice” as a noble and undisputed good while diminishing the ethical complexities. By 1957, though, films such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, first published in book form in 1952, were winning awards for depicting the moral confusion inherent in war. Subsequently, the movie The Green Berets, produced at the height of the Vietnam war in the late 1960s, was far closer in tone to Guadalcanal Diary than to The Bridge on the River Kwai. A decade or more passed before the film industry finally began producing more complex and ambivalent depictions of the Vietnam war, such as Apocalypse Now and Platoon.

“During and immediately after a war, Hollywood films typically trumpet the glory of sacrifice” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.
This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for 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. Which of the following best conveys the meaning of the word “fraught” in the second sentence of the passage?

(A) ”pacifistic” (line 5)
(B) ”glorified” (line 8)
(C) ”diminishing the ethical complexities” (line 18)
(D) ”confusion” (line 22)
(E) ”complex” (line 29)

2. What is the main point made by the author?

(A) Cultural and artistic communities tend not to fully support armed conflicts.
(B) In the last century, the film industry has become more culturally diverse.
(C) The existence of a particular cultural pattern can be established via evidence from 20th century artistic endeavors.
(D) The film industry only supports military efforts while the actual conflict is taking place.
(E) Cyclical patterns determine the type of films produced by Hollywood more than individuals do.

3. The passage implies which of the following about the message portrayed in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai?

(A) It supports the author’s view that it is better to depict the full complexities and moral confusions of a conflict than to pretend that sacrifice is always worthwhile.
(B) It put forward the pioneering portrayal of the moral confusion of war.
(C) It represented a more realistic depiction of war than did the message in Guadalcanal Diary.
(D) It incorporated the negative aspects of war more so than did the message in Guadalcanal Diary.
(E) It was more similar in tone to the message in Apocalypse Now than to the message in All Quiet on the Western Front.

Suggested GMAT Reading Comprehension Questions

• A One-Child Policy was Implemented in China in 1979
• Seeking a Competitive Advantage, Some Professional Service Firms
• On the surface, the Conquest of the Aztec Empire by Herman Cortes
• But Man is Not Destined to Vanish. He can be Killed, but he cannot be Destroyed, Because his Soul is Deathless and his Spirit is Irrepressible.
• When Literary Periods are Defined on the Basis of Men’s Writing, Women’s Writing Must be Forcibly Assimilated
• Behind Every Book Review There are Two Key Figures: A Book Review Editor and A Reviewer.
• Barbara Strozzi was a Singer and Composer of Madrigals, Aria
• During the Victorian Period, Women Writers were Measured Against A Social
• It Is Perhaps Not Surprising that Debate has Arisen Over Bioluminescence-Based Biotechnologies
• The Fact that Superior Service can Generate a Competitive Advantage
• The Origin of the Attempt to Distinguish Early from Modern Music
• The Phenomenon of College Basketball's Surging Popularity Remains a Challenge to Classify
• The United States Government has a Long-Standing Policy of Using Federal Funds to Keep Small Business Viable.
• A Recent Study has Provided Clues to Predator-Prey Dynamics in the Late Pleistocene Era.
• Even More Than Mountainside Slides of Mud or Snow, Naturally Occurring Forest Fires Promote the Survival of Aspen Trees.
• The Black Death, a Severe Epidemic that Ravaged Fourteenth Century Europe
• The System of Patent-Granting, Which Confers Temporary Monopolies for the Exploitation of New Technologies
• Ethnohistoric Documents from Sixteenth-Century Mexico Suggesting that Weaving and Cooking were the Most Common Productive Activities for Aztec Women
• Solar Ponds are Bodies of Water in Which Circulation is Incomplete and There is a Very High Salt Concentration that Increases with Depth
• Traditional Social Science Models of Class Groups in the United States are Based on Economic Status