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16 Sep 2014, 02:01
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Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of harmonious design, first became fashionable in the United States in the 1960s, when decorators heavily influenced by New Age sensibilities began selling Feng Shui to their clients as a chance to increase health and wealth as well as to have a more beautiful home. The Chinese practice of Feng Shui depends on directing the healthy flow of Chi, or life energy, by aligning the home itself according to the four cardinal directions and objects in the home in such a way as to receive and maintain this positive energy. In ancient practice, the most important objects in the home include the front door, or “Mouth of Chi,” where most life energy is received; the stove, which represents wealth and abundance; and the bed, whose positive position controls relationship energy. American popularized versions of Feng Shui, by contrast, show hardly any concern for directional alignment or key objects, preferring instead the excessive use of crystals, mirrors, and table-top water features, which, though perhaps entertaining, display precious little respect for the real influence of Chi.
1. Which of the following best describes the author’s tone in the passage?
(a) Both supportive and critical
(b) Alternately informative and criticising
(c) Wavering between disagreement and support
(d) Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
(e) Variously shocked and proud
2. The author most likely uses the adjective “popularized” in order to emphasize that
(a) many Americans in the 1960s used Feng Shui in their homes.
(b) directional alignment and key objects are no longer common features of Chinese Feng Shui.
(c) decorators influenced by New Age sensibilities changed the practice of Feng Shui by adding crystals, mirrors, and water features.
(d) the practice of Feng Shui in the United States was considerably more shallow than its practice in ancient China.
(e) crystals, mirrors, and water features were as popular in the United States in the 1960s as Feng Shui was in ancient China.
(a) Both supportive and critical
(b) Alternately informative and criticising
(c) Wavering between disagreement and support
(d) Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied
(e) Variously shocked and proud
2. The author most likely uses the adjective “popularized” in order to emphasize that
(a) many Americans in the 1960s used Feng Shui in their homes.
(b) directional alignment and key objects are no longer common features of Chinese Feng Shui.
(c) decorators influenced by New Age sensibilities changed the practice of Feng Shui by adding crystals, mirrors, and water features.
(d) the practice of Feng Shui in the United States was considerably more shallow than its practice in ancient China.
(e) crystals, mirrors, and water features were as popular in the United States in the 1960s as Feng Shui was in ancient China.
16 Sep 2014, 02:01
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Show SpoilerQuestion V04-14 explanation
The correct answer to this question will depend on an understanding of the author’s attitude toward Feng Shui when practiced in both China and the United States in the 1960s. In the passage, the author uses positive words such as healthy, and maintain when discussing the Chinese practice of Feng Shui, but critical words such as selling...to their clients, excessive, and precious little when reviewing its applications in the United States. It is also worth noting that all of the answer choices contain two adjectives that are related to each other. The correct answer choice will identify both the author’s attitude toward different practices of Feng Shui and the fact that the attitudes are contrasted within the passage.
- Supportive does not apply as a description of tone.
- The author is alternately informative when discussing the Chinese practice of Feng Shui and criticising when detailing its applications in the United States in the 1960s.
- The author’s tone does not waver.
- This option implies that the author’s tone in the passage is neutral, when in fact traditional Feng Shui is clearly preferred to its applications in the United States.
- Shocked does not describe the author’s tone in any part of the passage.
Show SpoilerQuestion V04-15 explanation
Understanding the author’s word choice requires grasping both the author’s overall purpose and the function of the word itself in context. The author clearly prefers the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui to fashionable versions of it in the United States. This opinion is developed in the first sentence, when decorators are described as selling to their clients the advantages of harmonious design. In the final sentence, the words by contrast indicate that the author views Chinese and American Feng Shui as very different. Additionally, the author describes the use of objects not common to the ancient practice of Feng Shui as excessive and says that American popularized versions of Feng Shui display precious little respect for Chi, the most important aspect of its traditional practice.
- This is a distortion of a detail in the first sentence.
- This is true only of American versions of Feng Shui.
- The passage says that American versions make excessive use of these objects, but does not suggest that they were absent from Chinese Feng Shui.
- This perspective is maintained throughout the passage; the author’s use of the word popularized in this sentence emphasizes the contrast between ancient practice and distorted versions fashionable in the US in the1960s.
- Crystals, mirrors, and water features are not directly compared to Feng Shui; this option is a distortion of details.
