Question

Excerpts from We
Yevgeny Zamyatin
1924
PART A: Which of the following best describes a central theme of the text?

A. Freedom is a difficult concept to grasp.
B. Technology and progress may come at the cost of humanity.
C. One must try to resist blending in with the crowd.
D. War can drastically change both a people and a society.

PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A?

A. "the integration of the indefinite equation of the Cosmos by the use of the glass, electric, fire-breathing Integral. Your mission is to subjugate to the grateful yoke of reason the unknown beings who live on other planets, and who are perhaps still in the primitive state of freedom." (Paragraph 2)
B. "Whoever feels capable must consider it his duty to write treatises, poems, manifestos, odes, and other compositions on the greatness and the beauty of the United State." (Paragraph 4)
C. "I, D-503, the builder of the Integral, I am only one of the many mathematicians of the United State." (Paragraph 9)
D. "not one of us has ever stepped beyond the Green Wall since the Two Hundred Years' War." (Paragraph 12)

Answer 1

Part A: B

Part B: A

Reason: The passage emphasizes the Integral (advanced technology) used to enforce control and subjugate others, showing progress at the expense of human freedom and humanity.