PSAT Critical Reading : Literary Fiction Passages

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for PSAT Critical Reading

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Example Questions

Example Question #2 :Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted fromJude the Obscureby Thomas Hardy (1895)

He sounded the clacker till his arm ached, and at length his heart grew sympathetic with the birds' thwarted desires. They seemed, like himself, to be living in a world which did not want them. Why should he frighten them away? They took upon more and more the aspect of gentle friends and pensioners—the only friends he could claim as being in the least degree interested in him, for his aunt had often told him that she was not. He ceased his rattling, and theyalightedanew.

"Poor little dears!" said Jude, aloud. "Youshallhave some dinner—you shall. There is enough for us all. Farmer Troutham can afford to let you have some. Eat, then my dear little birdies, and make a good meal!"

They stayed and ate, inky spots on the nut-brown soil, and Jude enjoyed their appetite. A magic thread of fellow-feeling united his own life with theirs. Puny and sorry as those lives were, they much resembled his own.

他嗒嗒声,这一次从h扔掉im, as being a mean and sordid instrument, offensive both to the birds and to himself as their friend. All at once he became conscious of a smart blow upon his buttocks, followed by a loud clack, which announced to his surprised senses that the clacker had been the instrument of offense used. The birds and Jude started up simultaneously, and the dazed eyes of the latter beheld the farmer in person, the great Troutham himself, his red face glaring down upon Jude's cowering frame, the clacker swinging in his hand.

"So it's 'Eat my dear birdies,' is it, young man? 'Eat, dear birdies,' indeed! I'll tickle your breeches, and see if you say, 'Eat, dear birdies' again in a hurry! And you've been idling at the schoolmaster's too, instead of coming here, ha'n't ye, hey? That's how you earn your sixpence a day for keeping the rooks off my corn!"

As it is used in the passage, the underlined word “alighted” most nearly means__________.

Possible Answers:

lighted

descended

perched

fell

ablaze

Correct answer:

descended

Explanation:

在第一段,裘德吓唬小鸟away from the field where they keep landing. In the sentence, “He ceased his rattling, and they alighted anew,” alighting is synonymous withlandingordescending. Whilst all of the words are different synonyms of “alighted,” “descended” is the best answer. To help you, “ablaze” meanson fire, and “perched” meanssat onand often refers to birds sitting on things.

Example Question #41 :Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted fromJude the Obscureby Thomas Hardy (1895)

He sounded the clacker till his arm ached, and at length his heart grew sympathetic with the birds' thwarted desires. They seemed, like himself, to be living in a world which did not want them. Why should he frighten them away? They took upon more and more the aspect of gentle friends and pensioners—the only friends he could claim as being in the least degree interested in him, for his aunt had often told him that she was not. He ceased his rattling, and they alighted anew.

"Poor little dears!" said Jude, aloud. "Youshallhave some dinner—you shall. There is enough for us all. Farmer Troutham can afford to let you have some. Eat, then my dear little birdies, and make a good meal!"

They stayed and ate, inky spots on the nut-brown soil, and Jude enjoyed their appetite. A magic thread of fellow-feeling united his own life with theirs. Puny and sorry as those lives were, they much resembled his own.

他嗒嗒声,这一次从h扔掉im, as being a mean and sordid instrument, offensive both to the birds and to himself as their friend. All at once he became conscious of a smart blow upon his buttocks, followed by a loud clack, which announced to his surprised senses that the clacker had been the instrument of offense used. The birds and Jude started up simultaneously, and the dazed eyes of the latter beheld the farmer in person, the great Troutham himself, his red face glaring down upon Jude's cowering frame, the clacker swinging in his hand.

"So it's 'Eat my dear birdies,' is it, young man? 'Eat, dear birdies,' indeed! I'll tickle your breeches, and see if you say, 'Eat, dear birdies' again in a hurry! And you've been idling at the schoolmaster's too, instead of coming here, ha'n't ye, hey? That's how you earn your sixpence a day for keeping the rooks off my corn!"

As it is used in the passage, the underlined word “thwarted” most nearly means__________.

Possible Answers:

distorted

unfulfilled

completed

foiled

embarrassed

Correct answer:

foiled

Explanation:

“Thwarted” in this case meansstoppedor “foiled"; all three verbs meanprevented from attaining an end. The birds werestoppedin their attempts to feed on the corn. To help you, “distorted” meanstwisted out of shape, “completed” meansfinished, and “unfulfilled” meansunhappy with one’s accomplishments.

Example Question #3 :Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted fromJude The Obscureby Thomas Hardy (1895)

He sounded the clacker till his arm ached, and at length his heart grew sympathetic with the birds' thwarted desires. They seemed, like himself, to be living in a world which did not want them. Why should he frighten them away? They took upon more and more the aspect of gentle friends and pensioners—the only friends he could claim as being in the least degree interested in him, for his aunt had often told him that she was not. He ceased his rattling, and they alighted anew.

"Poor little dears!" said Jude, aloud. "Youshallhave some dinner—you shall. There is enough for us all. Farmer Troutham can afford to let you have some. Eat, then my dear little birdies, and make a good meal!"

They stayed and ate, inky spots on the nut-brown soil, and Jude enjoyed their appetite. A magic thread of fellow-feeling united his own life with theirs. Puny and sorry as those lives were, they much resembled his own.

他嗒嗒声,这一次从h扔掉im, as being a mean and sordid instrument, offensive both to the birds and to himself as their friend. All at once he becameconsciousof a smart blow upon his buttocks, followed by a loud clack, which announced to his surprised senses that the clacker had been the instrument of offense used. The birds and Jude started up simultaneously, and the dazed eyes of the latter beheld the farmer in person, the great Troutham himself, his red face glaring down upon Jude's cowering frame, the clacker swinging in his hand.

"So it's 'Eat my dear birdies,' is it, young man? 'Eat, dear birdies,' indeed! I'll tickle your breeches, and see if you say, 'Eat, dear birdies,' again in a hurry! And you've been idling at the schoolmaster's too, instead of coming here, ha'n't ye, hey? That's how you earn your sixpence a day for keeping the rooks off my corn!"

Which of these is the best antonym to the underlined word “conscious” as used in this passage?

Possible Answers:

Self-aware

Nonchalant

Offended

Comatose

Insensitive

Correct answer:

Insensitive

Explanation:

The most direct antonym of “conscious” would be “unconscious.” A synonym of “unconscious” in this context isinsensitiveas Jude in the passage is becoming aware, or sensitive, to the beating the opposite would be to become “insensitive.” To help you, “comatose” meanspassed out, in a coma; “nonchalant” meansapathetic, not caring.

Example Question #59 :Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted From "Tony Kytes, The Arch-Deceiver" inLife's Little Ironies: A Set of Tales, with some colloquial sketches, entitled, A Few Crusted Charactersby Thomas Hardy (1905 ed.)

I shall never forget Tony’s face. It was a little, round, firm, tight face, with a seam here and there left by the small-pox, but not enough to hurt his looks in a woman's eye, though he'd had it baddish when he was a boy. So very serious looking and unsmiling 'a was, that young man, that it really seemed as if he couldn't laugh at all without great pain to his conscience. He looked very hard at a small speck in your eye when talking to 'ee. And there was no more sign of a whisker or beard on Tony Kytes's face than on the palm of my hand. He used to sing "The Tailor's Breeches," with all its scandelous lyrics, in a religious manner, as if it were a hymn.He was quite the women's favorite.

But in course of time Tony got fixed down to one in particular, Milly Richards – a nice, light, small, tender little thing; and it was soon said that they were engaged to be married. One Saturday he had been to market to do business for his father, and was driving home the wagon in the afternoon. When he reached the foot of the hill, who should he see waiting for him at the top but Unity Sallet, a handsome girl, one of the young women he'd been verytendertowards before he'd got engaged to Milly.

As soon as Tony came up to her she said, "My dear Tony, will you give me a lift home?"

"That I will, darling," said Tony. "You don't suppose I could refuse 'ee?"

She smiled a smile, and up she hopped, and on drove Tony.

"Tony," she says, in a sort of tender chide, "Why did ye desert me for that other one? In what is she better than I? I should have made 'ee a finer wife, and a more loving one, too. 'Tisn't girls that are so easily won at first that are the best. Think how long we've known each other—ever since we were children almost—now haven't we, Tony?"

"Yes, that we have," says Tony, struck with the truth o't.

"And you've never seen anything in me to complain of, have ye, Tony? Now tell the truth to me."

"I never have, upon my life," says Tony.

“你说,我不是pretty, Tony? Now look at me.

He let his eyes light upon her for a long while. "I really can't," says he. "In fact, I never knowed you was so pretty before!"

Which of these is the best antonym of the underlined word “tender”?

Possible Answers:

Broken

Caring

Insensible

Besotted

Apathetic

Correct answer:

Apathetic

Explanation:

The passage uses the word “tender” to meanfond, as Tony was previously fond of Unity. The best antonym for “tender” in this context would be “apathetic,” as this would suggest he showed limited or no interest towards Unity. "Apathetic" meansnot caring, and "besotted" meansin love with.

Example Question #42 :Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted from米德尔马契:省级生命的研究by George Eliot (1874)

Dorothea trembled while she read this letter; then she fell on her knees, buried her face, and sobbed. She could not pray; under the rush of solemn emotion in which thoughts became vague and images floated uncertainly, she could but cast herself, with a childlike sense of reclining, in the lap of a divine consciousness which sustained her own. She remained in thatattitudetill it was time to dress for dinner.

How could it occur to her to examine the letter, to look at it critically as a profession of love? Her whole soul was possessed by the fact that a fuller life was opening before her: she was a neophyte about to enter on a higher grade of initiation. She was going to have room for the energies which stirred uneasily under the dimness and pressure of her own ignorance and the petty peremptoriness of the world’s habits.

Now she would be able to devote herself to large yet definite duties; now she would be allowed to live continually in the light of a mind that she could reverence. This hope was not unmixed with the glow of proud delight—the joyous maiden surprise that she was chosen by the man whom her admiration had chosen. All Dorothea’s passion was transfused through a mind struggling towards an ideal life; the radiance of her transfigured girlhood fell on the first object that came within its level. The impetus with which inclination became resolution was heightened by those little events of the day which had roused her discontent with the actual conditions of her life.

The underlined word “attitude” in the first paragraph most nearly means__________.

Possible Answers:

dreamlike trance

feelings about a particular subject

bodily position

inability to pray

hostile manner

Correct answer:

bodily position

Explanation:

While readers may be tempted to choose answers that reflect more contemporary definitions of the word "attitude" ("hostile manner" or "feelings about a particular subject"), the correct answer is the now-antiquated definition of the word that reflects body posture. Context clues include the reference to Dorothea's “reclining” posture in the previous sentence.

Example Question #1 :Context Dependent Meaning Of Phrases Or Sentences In Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted from James Fennimore Cooper’s novel,The Last of the Mohicans(1826). Read the passage and then answer the questions that follow.

1 A young man, in the dress of an officer, conducted to their steeds two

2 females, who, as it was apparent by their dresses, were prepared to encounter

3 the fatigues of a journey in the woods. One, and she was the most juvenile in her

4 appearance, though both were young, permitted glimpses of her dazzling

5 complexion, fair golden hair, and bright blue eyes to be caught, as she artlessly

6 suffered the morning air to blow aside the green veil which descended low from

7 her beaver. The flush which still lingered above the pines in the western sky was

8 not more bright nor delicate than the bloom on her cheek; nor was the opening

9 day more cheering than the animated smile which she bestowed on the youth, as

10 he assisted her into the saddle. The other, who appeared to share equally in the

11 attentions of the young officer, concealed her charms from the gaze of the

12 soldiery, with a care that seemed better fitted to the experience of four or five

13 additional years. It could be seen, however, that her person, though molded

14 with the same exquisite proportions, of which none of the graces were lost by

15 the travelling dress she wore, was rather fuller and more mature than that of

16 her companion.

What does the author mean by “their dresses, were prepared to encounter the fatigues of a long journey in the woods” (Line 2–3)?

Possible Answers:

The girls are carrying weapons to defend themselves.

The girls’ dresses will serve as comfortable beds.

The girls’ dresses are thick and warm for the cold weather.

The girls have a positive attitude about their future journey.

Correct answer:

The girls’ dresses are thick and warm for the cold weather.

Explanation:

These lines are referring to the girls’ dresses, not the girls themselves. The author means to say that the dresses are suitable for cold weather in the woods. We can tell the setting is a cold climate because one of the girls is wearing a beaver and suffers from the morning air (Lines 6–7).

Example Question #1 :Context Dependent Meaning Of Phrases Or Sentences In Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted from James Fennimore Cooper’s novel,The Last of the Mohicans(1826). Read the passage and then answer the questions that follow.

1 His eyes fell on the still, upright, and rigid form of the “Indian runner,” who

2 had borne to the camp the unwelcome tidings of the preceding evening. Although

3在一个state of perfect repose, and apparently disregarding, with characteristic

4 stoicism, the excitement and bustle around him, there was a sullen fierceness

5 mingled with the quiet of the savage that was likely to arrest the attention of

6 much more experienced eyes than those which now scanned him in unconcealed

7 amazement. The native bore both the tomahawk and knife of his tribe; and yet,

8 his appearance was not altogether that of a warrior. On the contrary, there was

9 an air of neglect about his person, like that which might have proceeded from

10 great and recent exertion, which he had not yet found leisure to repair. The

11 colors of the war paint had blended in dark confusion about his fierce

12 countenance, and rendered his swarthy lineaments still more savage and

13 repulsive than if art had attempted an effect which had been thus produced

14 by chance. His eye, alone, which glistened like a fiery star amid lowering clouds,

15 was to be seen in its state of native wildness. For a single instant, his searching

16 and yet wary glance met the wondering look of the other, and then changing its

17 direction, partly in cunning and partly in disdain, it remain fixed, as if

18 penetrating the air.

What does the author mean by, “there was an air of neglect about his person” (Lines 8–9)?

Possible Answers:

The native looks disheveled.

The native seems like he could be abusive.

The native does not take good care of his physique.

The native smells foul.

Correct answer:

The native looks disheveled.

Explanation:

这一定意味着这个人看起来凌乱的(not put together), as though he had just used “great and recent exertion” (Line 10), probably in a physical sense.

Example Question #2 :Context Dependent Meaning Of Phrases Or Sentences In Literary Fiction Passages

Adapted fromThe Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoeby Daniel Defoe (1719)

I was now, in the months of November and December, expecting my crop of barley and rice. The ground I had manured and dug up for them was not great; for, as I observed, my seed of each was not above the quantity of half a peck, for I had lost one whole crop by sowing in the dry season. But now my crop promised very well, when on a sudden I found I was in danger of losing it all again by enemies of several sorts, which it was scarcely possible to keep from it; as, first, the goats, and wild creatures which I called hares, who, tasting the sweetness of the blade, lay in it night and day, as soon as it came up, and eat it so close, that it could get no time to shoot up into stalk.

This I saw no remedy for but by making an enclosure about it with a hedge; which I did with a great deal of toil, and the more, because it required speed. However, as my arable land was but small, suited to my crop, I got it totally well fenced in about three weeks’ time; and shooting some of the creatures in the daytime, I set my dog to guard it in the night, tying him up to a stake at the gate, where he would stand and bark all night long; so in a little time the enemies forsook the place, and the corn grew very strong and well, and began to ripen apace.

But as the beasts ruined me before, while my corn was in the blade, so the birds were as likely to ruin me now, when it wasin the ear; for, going along by the place to see how it throve, I saw my little crop surrounded with fowls, of I know not how many sorts, who stood, as it were, watching till I should be gone. I immediately let fly among them, for I always had my gun with me. I had no sooner shot, but there rose up a little cloud of fowls, which I had not seen at all, from among the corn itself.

This touched me sensibly, for I foresaw that in a few days they would devour all my hopes; that I should be starved, and never be able to raise a crop at all; and what to do I could not tell; however, I resolved not to lose my corn, if possible, though I should watch it night and day. In the first place, I went among it to see what damage was already done, and found they had spoiled a good deal of it; but that as it was yet too green for them, the loss was not so great but that the remainder was likely to be a good crop if it could be saved.

我呆在它加载我的枪,然后离开y, I could easily see the thieves sitting upon all the trees about me, as if they only waited till I was gone away, and the event proved it to be so; for as I walked off, as if I was gone, I was no sooner out of their sight than they dropped down one by one into the corn again. I was so provoked, that I could not have patience to stay till more came on, knowing that every grain that they ate now was, as it might be said, a peck-loaf to me in the consequence; but coming up to the hedge, I fired again, and killed three of them. This was what I wished for; so I took them up, and served them as we serve notorious thieves in England—hanged them in chains, for a terror to others. It is impossible to imagine that this should have such an effect as it had, for the fowls would not only not come at the corn, but, in short, they forsook all that part of the island, and I could never see a bird near the place as long as my scarecrows hung there. This I was very glad of, you may be sure, and about the latter end of December, which was our second harvest of the year, I reaped my corn.

As it is used in the passage, the phrase “in the ear” underlined in the third paragraph most nearly means__________.

Possible Answers:

failing

ripening

dying

rotting

finished growing

Correct answer:

ripening

Explanation:

We can infer that by "in the ear," the narrator means "ripening," because if cornstalks begin to develop ears of corn, it means they are ripening. Also, in this part of the passage, the birds are now attacking the crops for the new grown seed which the narrator refers to as “green” in the fourth paragraph. Further clues can be found in the parallel structure of the sentences surrounding the expression “in the ear,” in which it the author is using a number of idioms and colloquialisms to describe the ripening.

Example Question #1107 :Act Reading

Adapted fromCandideby Voltaire (1918 trans.)

邦葛罗斯说:“宏伟无辜”是极其危险的according to the testimony of philosophers. For, in short, Eglon, King of Moab, was assassinated by Ehud; Absalom was hung by his hair, and pierced with three darts; King Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, was killed by Baasa; King Ela by Zimri; Ahaziah by Jehu; Athaliah by Jehoiada; the Kings Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, were led into captivity. You know how perished Croesus, Astyages, Darius, Dionysius of Syracuse, Pyrrhus, Perseus, Hannibal, Jugurtha, Ariovistus, Cæsar, Pompey, Nero, Otho, Vitellius, Domitian, Richard II of England, Edward II, Henry VI, Richard III, Mary Stuart, Charles I, the three Henrys of France, the Emperor Henry IV! You know—"

"I know also," said Candide, "that we must cultivate our garden."

"You are right," said Pangloss, "for when man was first placed in the Garden of Eden, he was put thereut operaretur eum, that he might cultivate it; which shows that man was not born to be idle."

"Let us work," said Martin, "without disputing; it is the only way to render life tolerable.”

The whole little society entered into this laudable design, according to their different abilities.Their little plot of land produced plentiful crops. Cunegonde was, indeed, very ugly, but she became an excellent pastry cook; Paquette worked at embroidery; the old woman looked after the linen. They were all, not excepting Friar Giroflée, of some service or other; for he made a good joiner, and became a very honest man.

Pangloss sometimes said to Candide: "There is a concatenation of events in this best of all possible worlds; for if you had not been kicked out of a magnificent castle for love of Miss Cunegonde, if you had not been put into the Inquisition, if you had not walked over America, if you had not stabbed the Baron, if you had not lost all your sheep from the fine country of El Dorado, you would not be here eating preserved citrons and pistachio-nuts."

"All that is very well," answered Candide, "but let us cultivate our garden."

To what does the little society mentioned in the underlined sentence refer?

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers

The society in which the characters all live

The province in which this story is taking place

Humanity in the garden of Eden

The group of characters in the narrative

Correct answer:

The group of characters in the narrative

Explanation:

All that we know about this passage is that these people are speaking together about working. Martin proposes that they work "without disputing." While perhaps a greater familiarity with the Voltaire's book might lead you to interpret this differently, all that we can tell is that this small group is setting about to work together in a simple manner. (This is actually the case in the context of the text as a whole as well.)

Example Question #3 :New Sat

Passage adapted fromThe Confidence-Man: His Masqueradeby Herman Melville (1857)

At sunrise on a first of April, there appeared suddenly a man in cream-colors at the water-side in the city of St. Louis.

His cheek was fair, his chin downy, his hair flaxen, his hat a white fur one, with a long fleecy nap. He had neither trunk, valise, carpet-bag, nor parcel. No porter followed him. He was unaccompanied by friends. From the shrugged shoulders, titters, whispers, wonderings of the crowd, it was plain that he was, in the extremest sense of the word, a stranger.

In the same moment with his advent, he stepped aboard the favorite steamer Fidèle, on the point of starting for New Orleans. Stared at, but unsaluted, with the air of one neither courting nor shunning regard, but evenly pursuing the path of duty, lead it through solitudes or cities, he held on his way along the lower deck until he chanced to come to a placard nigh the captain's office, offering a reward for the capture of a mysterious impostor, supposed to have recently arrived from the East; quite an original genius in his vocation, as would appear, though wherein his originality consisted was not clearly given; but what purported to be a careful description of his person followed.

As if it had been a theatre-bill, crowds were gathered about the announcement, and among them certain chevaliers, whose eyes, it was plain, were on the capitals, or, at least, earnestly seeking sight of them from behind intervening coats; but as for their fingers, they were enveloped in some myth; though, during a chance interval, one of these chevaliers somewhat showed his hand in purchasing from another chevalier, ex-officio a peddler of money-belts, one of his popular safe-guards, while another peddler, who was still another versatile chevalier, hawked, in the thick of the throng, the lives of Measan, the bandit of Ohio, Murrel, the pirate of the Mississippi, and the brothers Harpe, the Thugs of the Green River country, in Kentucky—creatures, with others of the sort, one and all exterminated at the time, and for the most part, like the hunted generations of wolves in the same regions, leaving comparatively few successors; which would seem cause forunalloyed gratulation, and is such to all except those who think that in new countries, where the wolves are killed off, the foxes increase.

Pausing at this spot, the stranger so far succeeded in threading his way, as at last to plant himself just beside the placard, when, producing a small slate and tracing some words upon if, he held it up before him on a level with the placard, so that they who read the one might read the other. The words were these:—

"Charity thinketh no evil.”

When the author uses the phrase “unalloyed gratulation,” underlined in the third paragraph, he means__________.

Possible Answers:

untested ideas

absolute frustration

suspicious concern

unreserved celebration

careful cataloguing

Correct answer:

unreserved celebration

Explanation:

The author uses the phrase “unalloyed gratulation” in the following sentence:

“another peddler . . . hawked, in the thick of the throng, the lives of Measan, the bandit of Ohio, Murrel, the pirate of the Mississippi, and the brothers Harpe, the Thugs of the Green River country, in Kentucky—creatures, with others of the sort, one and all exterminated at the time, and for the most part, like the hunted generations of wolves in the same regions, leaving comparatively few successors; which would seem cause forunalloyed gratulation, and is such to all except those who think that in new countries, where the wolves are killed off, the foxes increase.”

So, what’s going on in this sentence? The author is discussing how the criminals who are the subjects of the books being hawked to the passengers have all been “exterminated” like wolves, “leaving comparatively few successors.” He then says that this “would seem cause for unalloyed gratulation.” Which of the answer choices would make sense as a response by the general public to criminals being captured and killed? “Ideas,” “frustration,” and “concern” don’t make sense, so we can ignore the answer choices “untested ideas,” “absolute frustration,” and “suspicious concern.” This leaves us with “careful cataloguing” and “unreserved celebration.” At this point, we need to focus on the last part of the sentence, where the author says, “which would seem cause forunalloyed gratulation, and is such to all except those who think that in new countries, where the wolves are killed off, the foxes increase.” So, everyone experiences “unalloyed gratulation” except for the people who think that after the wolves are gone, the foxes increase. Given that the wolves have been compared with criminals in the passage, foxes get a negative connotation as a sneaky animal taking the wolves’ place. The people believing the foxes increase seem to not be as happy about the criminals being captured as those experiencing “unalloyed gratulation,” suggesting that “careful cataloguing” is not the answer, and “unreserved celebration” is. After all, whether or not you thought more criminals would spring up, that would have nothing to do with “careful cataloguing,” but believing more criminals would show up would feasibly stop someone from celebrating unreservedly.

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