Critical Reading Passage
The following speech was delivered by General Douglas MacArthur on September 2, 1945, upon Japan’s surrender to the U.S. in WWII.
1 “Men since the beginning of time have sought peace. Various methodsthrough the ages have been attempted to devise an international process to prevent or settle disputes between nations. From the very start workable methods were found in so far as individual citizens were concerned, but
5 the mechanics of an instrumentality of larger international scope havenever been successful. Military alliances, balances of power, Leagues of Nations, all in turn failed, leaving the only path to be by way of the crucible of war. The utter destructiveness of war now blocks out this alternative. We have had our last chance. If we will not devise some greater and more
10 equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves a spiritual recrudescence and improvement of human character that will synchronize with our almost matchless advances in science, art, literature, and all material and cultural developments of the past 2000 years. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.”
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1. The passage is best described as…
A. a history of the uses of military force
B. an argument for increasing military power
C. a summary of US efforts at diplomacy
D. a description of modern warfare
E. a caution about the continued use of force
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2. In line 7, the word “crucible” most nearly means
A. a perplexing difficulty
B. a severe, searching test or trial
C. a lamp or torch that provides light
D. a puzzle or apparently insoluble problem
E. a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful forces
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3. The examples in line 6-7 (“Military…Nations”) primarily serve to
A. offer alternatives to war
B. compare modern techniques to those of previous centuries
C. illustrate the failures of diplomacy
D. describe the success of peaceful negotiations
E. emphasize the need for a multi-national military force
- Clearly, MacArthur is talking about war as a last resort. There’s nothing at all hawkish about this statement. He’s saying that if we continue to resort to war we will ultimately be annihilated. The answer is (E).
- If you know the definition of crucible, then you know the answer to this question. However, you should also be able to figure it out in context. Which choices obviously don’t work? (C) is a very optimistic statement; nowhere does MacArthur suggest that war provides any kind of light, either literal or metaphorical! (D) also doesn’t work. It’s too weak. War is not just a little conundrum; it’s a major disaster. For similar reasons, (A) doesn’t work either. (E) is tempting, but it’s too vague. It doesn’t have any hint of the negative nature of war that MacArthur is trying to emphasize. The best answer is (B).
- (A) is a seductive response, but he is not offering these as alternatives. He is saying that these are alternatives that have been tried in the past and have failed. (B) doesn’t work because MacArthur doesn’t say that these are modern techniques; they’ve been around for “from the start.” (D) makes the exact opposite point that MacArthur is making. (E) doesn’t at all follow from what is said here. The answer is (C).
source: http://www.wcboe.k12.md.us