Question

Randall Smith, owner of Security Now, shook his head as he surveyed his store. What a mess!
2 A month ago, his accountant had reminded him that he was required to perform an inventory at the end of the year. Randall had gratefully accepted the help of his “creative” nephew, Jared, the graphic artist. Turned out Jared had been a little too creative in his labeling, and Randall found himself opening boxes just to find out what was inside. Then, with just a week to go, Miguel, Randall’s assistant, decided he needed time off to study for his finals.
3 With only days before the deadline, Randall surveyed the disorder. Opened boxes filled with cameras, locks, and keypads were strewn about the storeroom floor. Incomplete inventory sheets were pinned to half the shelves. Randall wasn’t sure how he was going get everything in order by the weekend. Never enough help when you need it, he grumbled.
4 Randall finished off an aisle in the storeroom, then went home for dinner. Returning an hour later, he opened the storeroom door and stood frozen in shock. The room had been thoroughly straightened up. All the boxes were arranged in neat rows. Unpacked components were neatly sorted by type and manufacturer. Did Miguel come by? he thought, numbly. But he doesn’t have a key. Had someone broken in? But who would bother breaking in to—help?
5 Randall completed inventory of another aisle in the storeroom. On a sudden inspiration, he set up a few of the new security cameras around the store, and then left for the night.
6 Around midnight, Randall was awoken by an alert on his phone. There was movement inside the store! Fingers trembling, he opened the app to link to the video feed.
7 What he saw left him speechless. Small gnome-like creatures swarmed up the storeroom shelves. As the gnomes on the shelves called out model numbers, the ones standing below checked them off on their clipboards. Others checked off the contents of the opened boxes, and then repacked and reshelved the boxes.
8 As Randall stared in disbelief, the gnomes finished up. They streamed onto the table in the back and vaulted out through the open window. The last gnome stopped on the table, turned, and winked at the camera. Then, he too was gone.
9 Randall was dumbfounded. Who would believe he had been aided by creatures out of a fairy tale? And perhaps more importantly, what would people think of a security business that couldn’t prevent a break-in at its own site? Well, he didn’t have to tell anyone what he had seen.
10 Just then, his phone rang. “Hullo?” he said.
11 “Randall, it’s Carl from across the street. I just happened to be walking Maisie past your store when I saw a whole gang of burglars leaving by the back window. I called the police. Funny, I didn’t hear one of your fancy alarms go off.”
12 “Uh, yeah, Carl, no, the alarm works silently. Thanks for calling, though.” Randall sighed. Sometimes, he thought, the best help might be no help at all.
13 Randall returned to bed and was soon slumbering soundly. When the alarm on the phone chimed again, he was too deep asleep to be roused. As a result, he missed the surveillance camera footage showing the gnomes returning to stock his store’s display window with sneakers they had taken from Mr. Kavanaugh’s shoe emporium across the street. That surprise would have to wait until morning.
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Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm. “The Elves and the Shoemaker.” Translated by Margaret Hunt; 1884.


Selection 2 is a work of modern fiction that draws on Selection 1, a traditional tale. Which answer choice best explains their relationship?
A. Both Selection 1 and Selection 2 convey the theme “Good work is its own reward, so do not slack off.” Selection 2 transforms the hardworking shoemaker in Selection 1 into a lazy store owner.
B. Both Selection 1 and Selection 2 convey the theme “Take advantage of good luck, because your luck may quickly change.” Selection 2 transforms the lucky shoemaker in Selection 1 into an unlucky store owner.
C. Selection 1 tells of a shoemaker’s fantastical helpers. It conveys the theme “People must look out for themselves.” Selection 2 borrows the idea of fantastical helpers to conveys the theme “Help others unselfishly.”
D. Selection 1 tells of a shoemaker’s fantastical helpers. It conveys the theme “Do your best, and things will work out.” Selection 2 borrows the idea of fantastical helpers to conveys the theme “Help is not always helpful.”

Answer 1

D

Selection 1 (the Grimm tale) celebrates the idea that the shoemaker does his best and is rewarded when things fall into place (the elves finish his work). Selection 2 borrows the motif of mysterious, helpful little creatures but twists the result: the gnomes’ assistance creates problems (misunderstood “break‑ins,” stolen goods showing up in the display), supporting the idea that “help is not always helpful” (see Randall’s thought, “Sometimes...the best help might be no help at all”).