Should the Soft Spring Breath of Kindly Appreciation Warm GMAT Reading Comprehension

Reading Passage Question

Should the soft spring breath of kindly appreciation warm the current chilly atmosphere, flowers of greater luxuriance and beauty would soon blossom forth, to beautify and enrich our literature. If these anticipations are not realised, it will not be because there is anything in our country that is uncongenial to poetry. If we are deprived of many of the advantages of older countries, our youthful country provides ample compensation not only in the ways in which nature unveils her most majestic forms to exalt and inspire, but also in our unshackled freedom of thought and broad spheres of action. Despite the unpropitious circumstances that exist, some true poetry has been written in our country, and represents an earnest of better things for the future and the basis to hope that it will not always be winter with our native poetry.

Whenever things are discovered that are new, in the records of creation, in the relations of phenomenon, in the mind‘s operations, or in forms of thought and imagery, some record in the finer forms of literature will always be demanded. There is probably no country in the world, making equal pretensions to natural intelligence and progress in education, where the claims of native literature are so little felt, and where every effort in poetry has been met with so much coldness and indifference, as in ours.

The common method of accounting for this, by the fact almost everyone is engaged in the pursuit of the necessities of life, and that few possess the wealth and leisure necessary to enable devotion of time or thought to the study of poetry and kindred subjects, is by no means satisfactory. This state of things is doubtless unfavourable to the growth of poetry; but there are other causes less palpable, which exert a more subtle but still powerful antagonism. Nothing so seriously militates against the growth of our native poetry as the false conceptions that prevail respecting the nature of poetry.

Stemming either from a natural incapacity for appreciating the truths which find their highest embodiment in poetry or from familiarity only with more widely available, but lower forms, such notions conceive of poetry as fanciful, contrived, contrary to reason, or lacking the justification of any claim to practical utility. These attitudes, which admittedly may have some origin in the imperfection that even the most partial must confess to finding in our native poetry, nevertheless also can have the effect of discouraging native writers of undoubted genius from the sustained application to their craft that is essential to artistic excellence.

Poetry, like Truth, will unveil her beauty and dispense her honours only to those who love her with a deep and reverential affection. There are many who are not gifted with the power of giving expression to the deeper sensibilities who nevertheless experience them throbbing in their hearts. To them poetry appeals. But where this tongue-less poetry of the heart has no existence, or exists in a very feeble degree, the conditions for appreciating poetic excellence are wanting. Let no one, therefore, speak of disregard for poetry as if it indicated superiority.

Rather, it is an imperfection to be endured as a misfortune. Despite prevailing misconceptions, there always remain at least a few who appreciate fine literature. Why do these not provide sufficient nourishment for our native artists? Here, we must acknowledge the difficulty that so many of us, as emigrants from the Old Country, cling to memories of the lands we have left, and that this throws a charm around literary efforts originating in our former home, and it is indisputable that the productions of our young country suffer by comparison.

‘Should the soft spring breath of kindly appreciation warm’ is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 7 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.

Questions and Solutions

1. In the passage, the author makes various inferences regarding the country being written off. Which of the following inferences about the country is LEAST supported by evidence from the passage?

1. It was recently settled by immigrants.
2. It possesses unspoiled beauty.
3. It lacks a system of higher education.
4. It is characterised by a relatively low standard of living.
5. Most of the people are from low-income groups

2. The passage asserts that which of the following are reasons for the indifference toward native poetry that the author finds in his country?

1. There has been insufficient edification of most of the population.
2. The highest achievements of native poets do not rise to the level achieved by poets of the immigrants‘ homeland.
3. Nostalgic feelings orient readers toward the literature of their former home.

1. I and II only
2. II and III only
3. I and III only
4. I, II, and III
5. None of the above

3. Which of the following statements, made by poets about the creative process, is closest to the opinions expressed in the passage about what constitutes true‖ poetry?

1. Like a piece of ice on a hot stove the poem must ride on its own melting. A poem may be worked over once it is in being, but may not be worried into being.
2. My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.
3. If there‘s room for poets in this world . . . their sole work is to represent the age, their own age, not Charlemagne‘s.
4. The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an objective correlative‖; in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.
5. None of the above

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