Now, movement has no virtue in itself. Change is not worth while for its own sake. I am not one of those who love variety for its own sake. If a thing is good to-day, I should like to have it stay that way to-morrow. Most of our calculations in life are dependent upon things staying the way they are. For example, if, when you got up this morning, you had forgotten how to dress, if you had forgotten all about those ordinary things which you do almost automatically, which you can almost do half awake, you would have to find out what you did yesterday. I am told by the psychologists that if I did not remember who I was yesterday, I should not know who I am to-day, and that, therefore, my very identity depends upon my being able to tally to-day with yesterday. If they do not tally, then I am confused; I do not know who I am, and I have to go around and ask somebody to tell me my name and where I came from.
I am not one of those who wish to break connection with the past; I am not one of those who wish to change for the mere sake of variety. The only men who do that are the men who want to forget something, the men who filled yesterday with something they would rather not recollect to-day, and so go about seeking diversion, seeking abstraction in something that will blot out recollection, or seeking to put something into them which will blot out all recollection. Change is not worth while unless it is improvement. If I move out of my present house because I do not like it, then I have got to choose a better house, or build a better house, to justify the change.
It would seem a waste of time to point out that ancient distinction,—between mere change and improvement. Yet there is a class of mind that is prone to confuse them. We have had political leaders whose conception of greatness was to be forever frantically doing something,—it mattered little what; restless, vociferous men, without sense of the energy of concentration, knowing only the energy of succession. Now, life does not consist of eternally running to a fire. There is no virtue in going anywhere unless you will gain something by being there. The direction is just as important as the impetus of motion.
(from "What is Progress?" by Woodrow Wilson)
Question
Which statement provides an objective summary of the passage?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
Change that causes direct benefits for society is a meaningful enterprise.
2.
Improvement occurs when dynamic leaders take risks to bring about change.
3.
A nation must abandon highly outdated traditions to create a modern identity.
4.
Energetic movement is necessary even if the results are sometimes unsuccessful.
9 answers
Question
Which sentence ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, explains the effect of the words ,begin emphasis,astoundingly,end emphasis, and ,begin emphasis,unquestionably,end emphasis, in the passage?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
They help the reader visualize how quickly the team declined.
2.
They stress the degree to which Coach Wilson is incompetent.
3.
They help the reader determine how many games the team has lost.
4.
They stress the amazing skill of the team before Coach Wilson took over.
(from ,begin underline,Nature; Addresses, and Lectures,end underline, by Ralph Waldo Emerson)
Question
Which statement ,begin emphasis,best,end emphasis, summarizes the main assertion made in this passage?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
Man takes control of nature through science.
2.
Man possesses an admiration for nature's beauty.
3.
Man shows indifference to nature through his activities.
4.
Man desires to find the interrelation of elements in nature.
"I have passed beyond it, because I have brains," Becky thought, "and almost all the rest of the world are fools. I could not go back, and consort with those people now, whom I used to meet in my father's studio. Lords come up to my door with stars and garters instead of poor artists. . . . I have a gentleman for my husband, and an Earl's daughter for my sister in the very house where I was little better than a servant a few years ago. But am I much better to do now in the world than I was when I was the poor painter's daughter, and wheedled the grocer round the corner for sugar and tea? Suppose I had married Francis who was so fond of me—I couldn't have been much poorer than I am now. Heigho! I wish I could exchange my position in society, and all my relations for a snug sum in the Three per Cent. Consols;",superscript,1,baseline, for so it was that Becky felt the Vanity of human affairs, and it was in those securities that she would have liked to cast anchor.
(from ,begin underline,Vanity Fair,end underline, by William Makepeace Thackeray)
,fill in the blank,
,begin bold,,superscript,1,baseline,Three per Cent. Consols,end bold, a type of government bond that was considered a reliable and safe investment
Question
At which point in the passage does Becky's tone change from contemptuous to regretful?
Answer options with 4 options
1.
when she forgets "she ever ,begin italics,was,end italics, young"
2.
when she realizes "I could not go back"
3.
when she notes "I was little better than a servant"
4.
when she asks if she is "much better to do now in the world"