REASONING THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS Reading Section ข้อ 1-7

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REASONING THROUGH LANGUAGE ARTS Reading Section (GED - SAT)

Read the following excerpt from Thomas de Quincey's essay, "The Vision of Sudden Death." 

What is to be thought of sudden death? It is remarkable that, in different conditions of society it has been variously regarded as the consummation of an earthly career most fervently to be desired, and, on the other hand, as that consummation which is most of all to be deprecated. Caesar the Dictator, at his last dinner party, (cœna,) and the very evening before his assassination, being questioned as to the mode of death which, in his opinion, might seem the most eligible, replied—"That which should be most sudden." On the other hand, the divine Litany of our English Church, when breathing forth supplications, as if in some representative character for the whole human race prostrate before God, places such a death in the very van of horrors. "From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death,—Good Lord, deliver us." Sudden death is here made to crown the climax in a grand ascent of calamities; it is the last of curses; and yet, by the noblest of Romans, it was treated as the first of blessings. (In that difference, most readers will see little more than the difference between Christianity and Paganism. But there I hesitate. The Christian church may be right in its estimate of sudden death; and it is a natural feeling, though after all it may also be an infirm one, to wish for a quiet dismissal from life—as that which seems most reconcilable with meditation, with penitential retrospects, and with the humilities of farewell prayer. There does not, however, occur to me any direct scriptural warrant for this earnest petition of the English Litany. It seems rather a petition indulged to human infirmity, than exacted from human piety. And, however that may be, two remarks suggest themselves as prudent restraints upon a doctrine, which else may wander, and has wandered, into an uncharitable superstition. The first is this: that many people are likely to exaggerate the horror of a sudden death, (I mean the objective horror to him who contemplates such a death, not the subjective horror to him who suffers it,) from the false disposition to lay a stress upon words or acts, simply because by an accident they have become words or acts. If a man dies, for instance, by some sudden death when he happens to be intoxicated, such a death is falsely regarded with peculiar horror; as though the intoxication were suddenly exalted into a blasphemy. But that is unphilosophic. The man was, or he was not, habitually a drunkard. If not, if his intoxication were a solitary accident, there can be no reason at all for allowing special emphasis to this act, simply because through misfortune it became his final act. Nor, on the other hand, if it were no accident, but one of his habitual transgressions, will it be the more habitual or the more a transgression, because some sudden calamity, surprising him, has caused this habitual transgression to be also a final one? Could the man have had any reason even dimly to foresee his own sudden death, there would have been a new feature in his act of intemperance—a feature of presumption and irreverence, as in one that by possibility felt himself drawing near to the presence of God. But this is no part of the case supposed. And the only new element in the man's act is not any element of extra immorality, but simply of extra misfortune. 

 1. What is the main idea in this text? 

 A. Death, of any method, is horrible. 

 B. Slow death is preferable to sudden death. 

 C. The positive or negative qualities of sudden death are debatable. 

 D. Sudden death is preferable to slow death. 

 2. What can you infer about the relationships presented in this text? 

 A. Religion and philosophy agree about the preferential nature of sudden death. 

 B. There is a conflicting viewpoint about death from philosophy and religion. 

 C. Alcohol and death are matters that seem to go hand in hand. 

 D. A pious life determines whether a person will die suddenly or slowly. 

 3. What is the meaning of the word prostrate? 

 A. Vertically positioned 

 B. In arms against 

 C. Angrily opposing 

 D. At the mercy of 

 4. What role does the sentence "What is to be thought of sudden death?" play in the development of the purpose of this text? 

 A. It forces the reader to question this for themselves. 

 B. It lays the premise for the rest of the paragraph's development of the scope of this idea. 

 C. It lays out the author's direction of his opinion that sudden death is preferable. 

 D. It implores a more knowledgeable person to answer the question. 

 5. Which claim is NOT supported by reason? 

 A. "Sudden death is here made to crown the climax in a grand ascent of calami- ties; it is the last of curses; and yet, by the noblest of Romans, it was treated as the first of blessings." 

 B. "There does not, however, occur to me any direct scriptural warrant for this earnest petition of the English Litany." 

 C. "The first is this: that many people are likely to exaggerate the horror of a sudden death, (I mean the objective horror to him who contemplates such a death, not the subjective horror to him who suffers it,) from the false disposition to lay a stress upon words or acts, simply because by an accident they have become words or acts." 

 D. "If a man dies, for instance, by some sudden death when he happens to be intoxicated, such a death is falsely regarded with peculiar horror; as though the intoxication were suddenly exalted into a blasphemy." 

 6. Which sentence best supports the main idea of this passage? 

 A. "It is remarkable that, in different conditions of society it has been variously regarded as the consummation of an earthly career most fervently to be desired, and, on the other hand, as that consummation which is most of all to be deprecated." 

 B. ". . . being questioned as to the mode of death which, in his opinion, might seem the most eligible, replied—"That which should be most sudden." 

 C. "From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death,—Good Lord, deliver us." 

 D. "And the only new element in the man's act is not any element of extra immo- rality, but simply of extra misfortune." 

 7. How would the tone of the sentence, "It seems rather a petition indulged to human infirmity, than exacted from human piety." differ if the word "infirmity" were to be replaced with the word "suffering"? 

 A. By replacing "infirmity" with the weaker word "suffering," the tone would seem more in favor of the English Litany's position. 

 B. By replacing "infirmity" with the stronger word "suffering," the tone would seem more in favor of the English Litany's position. 

 C. By replacing "infirmity" with the stronger word "suffering," the tone would seem more condemnation for the English Litany's position. 

 D. There would be no change in tone.

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Answers 

 1. C. 

 This article considers both the positive and negative aspects of sudden death, and discusses the differing opinions about it. The text does not give a specific opinion about death itself being good or bad (A), and although the author may seem to imply that sudden death is the better option (D), he makes no definitive statement regarding this. The author only states that religion seems to prefer a slow death (B). 

 2. B. 

 The author discusses the conflicting stance between religion and Roman philosophy that sudden death is or is not preferable. Because this is true, you can rule out answer (A). Although the author does discuss intoxication, he does not make the conclusive statement that these two things are mutually exclusive (C). Finally, while the author does discuss a person's habits in terms of intoxication (D), he makes no claim that the regularity of this will determine a person's fate. 

 3. D. 

 You can infer from the sentence, "On the other hand, the divine Litany of our English Church, when breathing forth supplications, as if in some representative character for the whole human race prostrate before God, places such a death in the very van of horrors," that "prostrate" means "at the mercy of" God (D). This is because the sentence means the Church thinks it has the corner on human servitude (supplication) to God. To this end, "vertically positioned" (A), "in arms against" (B), and "angrily opposing" (C), simply do not make sense should you replace the words "prostrate before" with these phrases. 

 4. B. 

 By beginning with this question, the author indicates he will answer, or at least flesh out, the implications of this idea. You should already know that he presents conflicting information in this paragraph, so you can rule out (C). Although it may have the effect of forcing the readers to ask themselves this question, this does not warrant the development or assertion of a main idea itself (A). Because the author endeavors himself to answer this question, you can tell that he is not asking someone else to answer it for him, as (D) indicates. 

 5. B. 

 This answer is a reason, not a claim. It is indicating that the scripture does not provide evidence for the claim, thus it is the reasoning and evidence itself. (A) is a claim that was supported by the sentence immediately preceding it. (C) is a claim with its reasoning coupled in the same sentence. (D) is a claim the author spends the rest of the paragraph reasoning out. 

 6. A. 

 This sentence is, in fact, the main idea, which is that different parts of society view sudden death as either desirable or despicable. (B) is a bit of reasoning which supports one conflicting side of the argument, as is (C). Neither of these is explicitly the main idea, though both are connected to it. (D) is simply a conclusive statement that, when in context of the whole passage, helps to support the main idea—that the method of death is up for debate—but on its own is simply reasoning regarding the drunkard's method of death. 

 7. C. 

 "Infirmity" simply indicates illness, which is not directly qualified by "suffering," though it can be inferred. "Suffering" is a harsher word that takes human emotion into consideration. To that end, if the author had used "suffering" instead of "illness," he would indicate more directly that the Church is cruel for allowing the misery to continue. Therefore, you can rule out both (A) and (B), which indicate the author would be in favor of the church's position—which should have been clear simply from the sentence itself. There is definitely a change in tone, so you can rule out (D).