Questions from PBT Tests 01/2004

[mishum2000]

Reading 1

 

After 1785, the production of children's books in the Untied States increased but remained largely reprints of British books, often those published by John Newbery, the first publisher to produce books aimed primarily at diverting a child audience. Ultimately, however, it was not the cheerful, commercial-minded Newhery, but Anglo-Irish author Maria Edgeworth who had the strongest influence on this period of American children's literature. The eighteenth century had seen a gradual shift away from the spiritual intensity of earlier American religious writings for children, toward a more generalized moralism. Newbery notwithstanding, Americans still looked on children's books as vehicles for instruction, not amusement , though they would accept a moderate amount of fictional entertainment for the sake of more successful instruction. As the children's book market expanded, then, what both public and publishers wanted was the kind of fiction Maria Edgeworth wrote: stories interesting enough to attract children and morally instructive enough to allay adult distrust of fiction.

 

American reaction against imported books for children set in after the War of 1812 with the British. A wave of nationalism permeated everything, and the self-conscious new nation found foreign writings (particularly those from the British monarchy) unsuitable for the children of a democratic republic, a slate of self-governing, equal citizens. Publishers of children's books began to encourage American writers to write for American children. When they responded, the pattern established by Maria Edgeworth was at hand, attractive to most of them for both its rationalism and its high moral tone. Early in the 1820's, stories of willful children learning to obey, of careless children learning to take care, of selfish children learning to "tire for others," started to flow from American presses, successfully achieving Edgeworth's tone, though rarely her lively style. Imitative as they were, these early American stories wee quite distinguishable from their British counterparts.

Few servants appeared in them, and if class distinctions had by no means disappeared, there was much democratic insistence on the worthiness of every level of birth and work. The characters of children in this fiction were serious, conscientious, self -reflective, and independent-testimony to the continuing influence of the earlier American moralistic tradition in children's books.

 

7. By the end of the eighteenth century, the publishers of children’s looks in the United States were most concerned about which of the following ?

(A) Attracting children with entertaining stories that provided lessons of correct behavior

(B) Publishing literature consisting of exciting stories that would of social classes appeal to both children and adults

© Expanding markets for books in both Britain and the United States

(D) Reprinting fictional books from earlier in the century

 

I answered A, but the key answer is B ? Why ?

 

 

Reading 2

 

The languages spoken by early Europeans are still shrouded in mystery. There is no linguistic continuity between the languages of Old Europe (a term sometimes used for Europe between 7000 and 3000 B.C.) and the languages of the modem world, and we cannot yet translate the Old European script. Scholars have deciphered other ancient languages, such as Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian, which used the cuneiform script, because of the fortuitous discovery of bilingual inscriptions. When cuneiform tablets were first discovered in the eighteenth century, scholars could not decipher them. Then inscriptions found in baa at the end of the eighteenth century provided a link: these inscriptions were written in cuneiform and in two other ancient languages, Old Persian and New Elamite--languages that had already been deciphered. It took several decades, but scholars eventually translated the ancient cuneiform script via the more familiar Old Persian language.

 

Similarly, the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians remained a mystery until French troops unearthed the famous Rosetta stone in the late eighteenth century. The stone carried the same message written in ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and Egyptian hieratic, a simplified form of hieroglyphs. The Rosetta stone thwarted scholars' efforts for several decades until the early nineteenth century when several key hieroglyphic phrases were decoded using the Greek inscriptions. Unfortunately, we have no Old European Rosetta stone to chart correspondences between Old European script and the languages that replaced it.

 

Tim incursions of Indo -European tribes into Old Europe from the late fifth to the early third millennia B.C. caused a linguistic and cultural discontinuity. These incursions disrupted the Old European sedentary farming lifestyle that had existed for 3,000 years As the Indo-Europeans encroached on Old Europe from the east, the continent underwent upheavals. These severely affected the Balkans, where the Old European cultures abundantly employed script. The Old European way of life deteriorated rapidly, although pockets of Old European culture remained for several millennia, ~ new peoples spoke completely different languages belonging to the Indo -European linguistic family. The Old European language or languages, and the script used to write them, declined and eventually vanished.

 

 

 

 

27. When does the passage suggest that ancient Egyptian hieroglypttic script was finally deciphered?

 

 

(A) At around the same time as cuneiform script was deciphered

(B) Shortly before the Rosetta stone was unearthed

© As soon as additional bilingual inscriptions became available to scholars

(D) A few decades after the hieratic script was decoded

 

 

I answered B, but the key answer is A...I doubt it...what do you say ?

 

 

30.According to the passage, Indo-European incursions caused Old European populations to

 

(A) separate into different tribes

(B) move eastward

© change their ways of living obtaining food

(D) start recording historical events in Writing

 

I answered A, but the key answer is C ... I think they are wrong ... What do you say ?

 

 

31. The author mentions the Balkans in the passage in order to explain why

 

 

(A) Indo -European languages were slow to spread in Old Europe

(B) the inhabitants of Old Europe were not able to prevent Indo-European incursions

© the use of the Old European script declined

(D) the Old European culture survived for a time after the Indo-European incursions

I answered B, but the corect answer is C .. Why ?

 

Thank you,

 

Regards,

 

Michael.

[armie480]

Hi Michael

 

Reading 1.

 

7. I suppose that the following passage supports the B answer:

 

The eighteenth century had seen a gradual shift away from the spiritual intensity of earlier American religious writings for children, toward a more generalized moralism. [...] As the children's book market expanded, then, what both public and publishers wanted was the kind of fiction Maria Edgeworth wrote: stories interesting enough to attract children and morally instructive enough to allay adult distrust of fiction.

 

IOW, as by the end of the 18th century the market of children's literature expanded, 'entertaining stories that provided lessons of correct behavior' (answer A) were replaced by writings equally attractive to children and adults. Therefore the answer is B.

 

Reading 2.

 

27. The key passage would be the following:

 

Similarly, the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians remained a mystery until French troops unearthed the famous Rosetta stone in the late eighteenth century. [...] The Rosetta stone thwarted scholars' efforts for several decades until the early nineteenth century when several key hieroglyphic phrases were decoded using the Greek inscriptions.

 

In fact, the hieroglyphic writing of the Egyptians was first deciphered only in the early 19th century. Further, in the first paragraph of the reading it is mentioned that cuneiform script was deciphered at the end of the 18th century. Late 18th century and early 19th century may be said to be roughly the same period of time; therefore the answer is A.

 

As for the Rosetta stone, it failed to give a clue to the Egyptian hieroglyphic phrases ('thwarted scholar's efforts for several decades'). It only provided examples of the same text in several languages, which later on enabled scholars to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs by relating them to words in already deciphered languages.

30. C is the answer: they changed their ways of living and obtaining food:

 

The incursions of Indo-European tribes into Old Europe from the late fifth to the early third millennia B.C. caused a linguistic and cultural discontinuity. These incursions disrupted the Old European sedentary farming lifestyle [...] The Old European way of life deteriorated rapidly[...]

There is nothing in the paragraph to suggest that the separation of European tribes into some different tribes took place.

 

31. Old European cultures in the Balkans switched to Indo-European languages and accordingly, changed their Old European script to that of Indo-Europeans:

 

These severely affected the Balkans, where the Old European cultures abundantly employed script. [...] The Old European language or languages, and the script used to write them, declined and eventually vanished.

The answer is C.

 

Cheers [dance]