Hi.
I've got several questions on some comprehension texts and would appreciate if you guys could tell me where I went wrong.
Text 1: The Eagle
1) Consider Poem 1
Of the following, the eagle in the poem is best described as
a) Unnatural
b) A force of nature
c) At peace with nature
d) A destroyer of nature
The answer is A. I got B. How would you interpret it as unnatural? It's more depicted as a force of nature in my perspective.
2) The depiction in poem 1 is of an eagle that is more
a) tame than the eagles in poem 2
b) regal than the eagles in poem 2
c) natural than the eagles in poem 2
d) friendly than the eagles in poem 2
The answer is A. I got B since the eagle is more regal in my opinion (the way they say "like a thunderbolt he falls") rather than tame.
Text 2
"The following passage is from the diaries of Australian writer Miles Franklin and was written
in 1935. Franklin has just been to a screening of a contemporary Australian film,
Heritage,which leads her to comment on the Australian film industry of the time.
It is good to observe the improvement in mechanical technique — the cloud effects are beautiful. There were not long teams of bullocks available in those days. In the '40s there were only two drays in the whole of the Southern District and four or six bullocks were a lot. I never saw a tilted dray such as those employed here and of course the bullocks sprint along like a rodeo. In real life the beasts would have been raving mad and dead under such
treatment.
Every advance is welcome — the only way to do things is to do them, and Australian film makers are advancing in mechanics. The whole unique field still lies awaiting the master — the man of vision as well as technical knowledge. But he will have to study the subtleties of Australian life and scenery. Failure, or at best mediocrity, will continue to attend those who strive to jazz Australia up to USA rhythm."
Question 1) Franklin suggests that the Australian film industry of the time needs
a) greater public support
b) more substantial funding
c) a leader of wisdom and foresight
d) to adapt some of the better American practices
Answer is B. How would you interpret that from the text? Nowhere does it mention anything about funding.
2) The structure of the diary entry is
a) detailed account of a film, then criticism of that film
b) commentary on a particular film, then general comment on the film industry
c) introductory comments about the film industry, then personal impressions of a film
d) general commentary on the film industry using examples from various contemporary films
The answer is C. I got B, I don't get how it's C since they talk about the film in the first paragraph.
3) Franklin's view appears to be that the best feature of the film Heritage was the
a) Soundtrack
b) speed of the bullocks
c) technical innovations
d) way that the dray was tilted
The answer is B. I got C since they talk about the "mechanical improvements" and such.
Text 4:
"The following passage is from a short story about a landowner named Anna Akimovna set in
Russia in the nineteenth century. It is Christmas Eve. Here was a thick roll of notes. It came from the bailiff' at the forest villa; he wrote that
he was sending fifteen hundred roubles, which he had been awarded as damages, having won an appeal. Anna Akimovna disliked and feared such words as 'awarded damages' and 'won the suit'. She knew that it was impossible to do without the law, but for some reason, whenever Nazaritch, the manager of the factory, or the bailiff of her villa in the country, both of whom frequently went to law, used to win lawsuits of some sort for her benefit, she always felt uneasy and, as it were, ashamed. On this occasion, too, she felt uneasy and awkward, and wanted to put that fifteen hundred roubles further away that it might be out of her sight.
She thought with vexation that other girls of her age —she was in her twenty-sixth year— were now busy looking after their households, were weary and would sleep sound, and would wake up tomorrow morning in holiday mood; many of them had long been married and had children. Only she, for some reason, was compelled to sit like an old woman over these letters, to make notes upon them, to write answers, then to do nothing the whole evening till midnight, but wait till she was sleepy; and tomorrow they would all day longbe coming with Christmas greetings and asking for favours ... After the holidays Nazaritchwould turn off some twenty of the workpeople for absence from work, and all of the twenty would hang about at the front door, without their caps on, and she would be ashamed to go out to them, and they would be driven away like dogs. And all her acquaintances would say behind her back, and write to her in anonymous letters, that she was a millionaire and exploiter — that she was devouring other men's lives and sucking the blood of the workers.
bailiff:
the person who manages Anna's country property"
Q1) Anna imagines that, when her factory workers are punished for not coming to work, she would
a) watch on with indifference
b) treat them with compassion
c) blame Nazaritch, not herself
d) see their misery and do nothing
The answer is A. How?
Q2) The passage suggests that Anna's factory manager and the villa bailiff are
a) not concerned with impressing Anna
b) inconsistent in their dealings with their employees
c) more sensitive to their employees than Anna
d) very business-like in carrying out their jobs
The answer is C. I put it as D but was confused. How is it C when in the text it's said that the people are driven away like dogs. Doesn't look too sensitive in the owner's perspective, yet it's C?