(1)Cicero said, “A room without a book is a body without a soul.” (2) Certainly when I enter someone’s home for the first time, I am likely to gravitate to the bookshelf, in part to glean further insight into the personality of its owner. (3) But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment.
(4)In a sense, books have always been more than just repositories of information. (5) The look and feel of a book is as much a part of its appeal as its contents. (6) There is something immensely satisfying about opening a new book: the smell of the paper, the feel of the cover, the design on the dust jacket and the weight of the volume all contribute to the impression it makes. (7) The most aesthetically pleasing volumes, the leather bound volumes, and the volumes with beautiful bindings are actually often bought by interior decorators to add to the look of a study, office or of a living room.
(8)Books have a symbolic power. We shudder when we hear of ‘book burning’, associated down the ages with tyranny and oppression. (9) Books as cultural icons remind us of freedom of speech and enhanced opportunities, they remind us of the intellectual aspirations of the human race.
(10)But in the future will the book still be read? (11)I believe it will. (12)More books are being written and published than ever before; the book has withstood the advent of the cinema, television, and personal computer and are likely to be there in centuries to come.
Questions for Day 1:
1. Which is the best version of the underlined portion of sentence 3 (reproduced below)?
But now that the family encyclopedia is likely to have been replaced by a CD-ROM it is possible that the book might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information and entertainment.
A. might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information
B. might be reduced to an item of decoration rather than a source of information
C. will be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information
D. will be reduced to an item of decoration rather than a source of information
E. could be reduced to an item of decoration rather than information
2. Which version of sentence 8 would form the best transition between paragraphs two and three?
A. Besides their aesthetic appeal, books have symbolic power.
B. Books have also always had symbolic power.
C. Besides their use to decorators, books have a symbolic power.
D. Books have other functions besides decoration.
E. Other people have used books as symbols.
Source: majortests.com
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First of all, I suggest that you do the same thing I suggested for the passage-based reading sections: read only the sentences just before and after the sentence that is being asked about. If you read the whole thing first, by the time you get to the questions you will have forgotten the specific content, unless, of course, you have uncanny retentive abilities. Most people do not have such abilities. That’s just the way it is. Anyway, to answer the first question, I would read the first four sentences of the paragraph. This is not a context question here, but it still makes sense to read the first few sentences, so that you have a sense of what the overall paragraph is going to be about. In this particular sentence, are there any problems? If not, you’ll choose the (A), which is just a restatement of the original underlined part. Here, the answere is not (A). What makes that clear from the outset is the word “might.” “It is possible that the book might be reduced. . .” is redundant; if something is a possibility, then “might” is already implied. With that in mind, we can eliminate (A) and (B). The other problem is with “to an item of decoration rather than information.” This does not work, because “item” here refers to both decoration and information—so it sounds like the author is referring to an “item of information,” which is not what is intended here. What the author wants to say is that books will no longer be seen as sources of information, but merely as adornments. With that, we can rule out (C) and (E). Of course, (E) can also be eliminated on the grounds of redundancy: “possible” can also imply “could.” That leaves us with (D), which works just fine.
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A common thing the test writers will do in this section is to have weak transitions. Here, all of a sudden, the writer starts talking about books having symbolic power. This is very abrupt, given the fact that the subject matter up till this point has been the contention that books are becoming more decorative than functional. Before a good writer transitions to another subject, he/she will always introduce the new topic somehow. So we know we’re looking for a good transition sentence here: one that will introduce the idea of books having not only aesthetic appeal, but symbolic power. The question now is which of the choices does this the best. The problem with (B) is the word “also.” The use of this word would imply that books have always had aesthetic appeal. While this may be true, it is not a point that the author makes. (C) is too specific. The usefulness of books to decorators is merely an example of the larger point: that books have aesthetic appeal in a variety of ways. (D) is just poorly worded, and (E) is a misinterpretation of the author’s point. The author is not saying that books are symbols; he/she is saying that they have symbolic power, which is a different point. Yes, they’re closely related points, but they are nonetheless different. (A), then, is the best answer.
