PrepTest 158, Section 1, Question 13
Native American stories often feature a character called(472 more words not shown)
The author refers to the(16 more words not shown)
- AIt provides evidence(8 more words not shown)
- BIt illustrates the(10 more words not shown)
- CIt supports the(6 more words not shown)
- DIt illustrates a(11 more words not shown)
- EIt indicates that(10 more words not shown)
Reading the passage
The coyote story gives us a concrete example of the trickster's role. Its impossible romance is funny, exposes an excessive human desire, and lets listeners recognize that desire in themselves. That supports the contrast with the picaro's social satire.
What we’re looking for
This is an EXCEPT question, so four answers can describe genuine jobs the example does. We don't have to predict all four in advance. We do need to check whether each proposed job is supported by the actual story.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
Nothing explains why a coyote is especially well suited to this role. The lesson comes from wanting the unattainable and suffering for that desire, not from some distinctive trait of coyotes. The animal supplies this example; it isn't the subject of a comparison about which animals make the best tricksters.
- B
The coyote's excessive hopes illustrate a human foible. Listeners recognize the same tendency to want too much in themselves, so this is a purpose the example serves.
- C
Falling in love with a star and then being dropped back to Earth supplies the comic illustration. The example shows the foolishness described earlier.
- D
The ending explicitly says listeners recognize their own extravagant hopes in the trickster. That explains how they identify with the figure despite its mythical situation.
- E
The desire for a star is beyond reasonable mortal possibility. It illustrates precisely the extravagant desire this answer names, so it cannot be our EXCEPT answer.
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