PrepTest 126, Section 2, Question 17
With their recognition of Maxine Hong Kingston as(422 more words not shown)
In which one of the(29 more words not shown)
- AScraps of plain(9 more words not shown)
- BThe surface texture(17 more words not shown)
- CBecause of its(16 more words not shown)
- DIn making a(19 more words not shown)
- EBecause of their(26 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
What are we trying to match? Kingston writes in English while carrying over qualities of Chinese language. My first thought is some kind of blending or weaving together, with cotton standing for English and another material standing for Chinese. That's a starting point, though; the sentence may describe a more specific relationship than a literal mixture of two materials.
Working the answers
- A
Combining cotton scraps makes a quilt, but it doesn't show one material taking on qualities associated with a different material. We need a counterpart for the Chinese-language qualities Kingston brings into English.
- BCorrect
This sharpens our initial prediction. The finished fabric is cotton, but special weaving makes its surface resemble wool. Similarly, Kingston's text is English, but her use of English gives it qualities associated with Chinese. Cotton matches English, wool matches Chinese, and the weaving process matches her use of language. We don't actually need two materials mixed together; one can be used to recreate an effect of the other.
- C
Nothing says Kingston uses English because Chinese is inappropriate for the stories. C makes the choice depend on one material being unsuitable.
- D
This substitutes one material for another because they're already similar. Kingston isn't simply treating English and Chinese as interchangeable; she works Chinese-language qualities into her English writing.
- E
The mixture fits our first thought, which makes this tempting. But it's a literal combination chosen to save money, not one material crafted to reproduce another's qualities. We have no counterpart for that cost-saving purpose, either. B captures the actual relationship more closely.
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