Reading Passage Question
Literature is at once the most intimate and the most articulate of the arts. It cannot impart its effect through the senses or the nerves as the other arts can; it is beautiful only through the intelligence; it is the mind speaking to the mind; until it has been put into absolute terms, of an invariable significance, it does not exist at all. It cannot awaken this emotion in one, and that in another; if it fails to express precisely the meaning of the author, if it does not say him, it says nothing, and is nothing. So that when a poet has put his heart, much or little, into a poem, and sold it to a magazine, the scandal is greater than when a painter has sold a picture to a patron, or a sculptor has modeled a statue to order. These are artists less articulate and less intimate than the poet; they are more exterior to their work; they are less personally in it; they part with less of themselves in the dicker. It does not change the nature of the case to say that Tennyson and Longfellow and Emerson sold the poems in which they coached the most mystical messages their genius was charged to bear mankind. They submitted to the conditions which none can escape; but that does not justify the conditions, which are nonetheless the conditions of hucksters because they are imposed upon poets. If it will serve to make my meaning a little clearer, we will suppose that a poet has been crossed in love, or has suffered some real sorrow, like the loss of a wife or child. He pours out his broken heart in verse that shall bring tears of sacred sympathy from his readers, and an editor pays him a hundred dollars for the right of bringing his verse to their notice. It is perfectly true that the poem was not written for these dollars, but it is perfectly true that it was sold for them.
“Literature is at once the most intimate and the most articulate ”- is a reading comprehension exercise for the GMAT. Candidates must be extremely skilled in GMAT reading comprehension. This GMAT reading comprehension section contains 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed to assess candidates' ability to comprehend, analyzation, and application skills. GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions can help candidates who are actively preparing.
Solutions and Explanation
- The author implies that writers are
(A) incompetent in business.
(B) not sufficiently paid for their work.
(C) greedy.
(D) hucksters.
(E) profiting against their will.
Answer: E
Explanation: The passage contains an expression. It claims that the scandal is greater when a poet sells a poem to a magazine after pouring his heart into it. The final option best expresses this meaning and therefore it is the correct answer. The remaining options are all wrong answers as they do not seem fit for this question.
- A possible title that best expresses the meaning of the passage would be
(A) “The Man of Letters as a Man of Business”
(B) “Literature and the Arts”
(C) “Progress in Literature”
(D) “Poets and Writers”
(E) “The State of the Arts”
Answer: A
Explanation: The passage addresses the issue of poets or writers who must sell their works in order to survive, leading to their business-like behavior. With this inference the first option is the right answer. This is because it can serve as the right title as it suits the description given above.
- By accepting payment for works of literature or art, its creators are
- writing and paint solely for monetary gain.
- justifying the practice of art.
- exchanging their work for remuneration.
(A) I only
(B) III only
(C) I and II only
(D) II and III only
(E) I, II, and III
Answer: B
Explanation: From the passage it can be understood something. It is that authors and artists who accept payment for their creations are exchanging their labor for money. The third statement clearly mentions this and therefore the option that holds this alone will be the right choice. As a result, the second option is the right answer.
- The author of the passage proposes that writers and artists
(A) make the best out of a bad situation.
(B) attempt to induce society to change its values.
(C) withhold their work until they gain recognition.
(D) adopt the principles of commercialism.
(E) adopt the value system of society.
Answer: A
Explanation: The author suggests that change of society's value system will be a great time (which he does not predict). But until that artists and writers must make the best compromises they can with the status quo without compromising the quality of their work. The first option is the right answer because it is in accordance with the above explanation.
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