The Story of Athena
Once upon a time, Zeus, the ruler of Olympus, heard of a prophecy that the child that his wife Metis, the Titan goddess, will give birth to would overthrow his rule.
Later, Zeus had a terrible headache. His head burst open and out came Athena, the goddess of crafts and wisdom. Since Zeus and not Metis had given birth to her, Athena owed allegiance to him, and would not overthrow him. She swore to her father that she would never take a man for her husband and would serve him as a loyal daughter, ensuring his rule.
Though wise and patient, like all Olympians, Athena did not tolerate rivals. Once, she heard of the princess Arachne who claimed she could weave cloth better than Athena. So the goddess challenged her to a tapestry-weaving contest. The two sat at looms and began to weave their tapestries, each telling a story. Athena told the story of foolish mortals who challenged the gods, and Arachne told the story of vain gods who were cruel toward mortals. In the end, both tapestries came out equally good, and so an angry Athena grudgingly accepted defeat, but cursed Arachne that she would turn into a spider and spin webs for all eternity.
Passage 2
Hailey and Iris
Hailey was the daughter of the town's doctor, who was also said to be the smartest man in town and had a lot of money. This made Hailey very proud of herself, and she behaved as if she was better than the others at school. She always strived to come first in class and wanted to be the leader in all the extracurricular activities.
One day, Hailey heard a group of students discussing an upcoming science test in class and went up to talk to them.
"You guys shouldn't waste time in working so hard for the test, because you know that I will come first as usual," Hailey said as she looked mockingly at them.
Iris, one of the girls in the group, became furious at Hailey's overconfident remark and decided to challenge her.
"Why don't we wait till the test to find out who comes first?" Iris said as she looked at Hailey angrily.
Hailey was taken aback by Iris's comment but accepted her challenge with a smirk. On the day of the test, the teacher handed out papers and explained the rules. The entire time, Hailey rudely smirked at Iris, but this did not deter Iris from her goal of coming first.
The next day, when they received the test results, Hailey could not believe her eyes when she saw that Iris had scored one mark more than her.
"This is impossible!" Hailey shouted and took Iris to their teacher.
The teacher reexamined their papers and declared that Iris had in fact scored more than Hailey. Hailey felt humiliated when she realized that in spite of being the smartest girl at school, Iris had managed to score more than her.
"Unexpected things always happen, Hailey, and it is wrong to be overconfident just because you believe you are good at something," Iris told her with a smile.
Hailey's face turned red with embarrassment, and she quietly accepted defeat. But even this defeat did not make Hailey humble; in fact, she challenged Iris and the other students to compete with her more.
8
How does "Hailey and Iris" draw upon a theme from "The Story of Athena?"
A.
It illustrates how being kind and friendly toward others helps in the long run.
B.
It shows how one should always be proud of one's family.
C.
It shows how some people are more gifted than the others.
D.
It illustrates how too much pride and arrogance can lead to one's downfall.
1 answer
D. It illustrates how too much pride and arrogance can lead to one's downfall.
In "The Story of Athena," Athena's pride and her unwillingness to accept defeat over Arachne ultimately led to Arachne's curse and transformation into a spider. Similarly, in "Hailey and Iris," Hailey's overconfidence and arrogance about her intelligence and abilities lead to her unexpected defeat by Iris. Both stories demonstrate how excessive pride can result in negative consequences.
