What is patriotism? Is it love of one’s birthplace, the place of childhood’s recollections and hopes, dreams and aspirations? Is it the place where, in childlike naivety, we would watch the fleeting clouds, and wonder why we, too, could not run so swiftly? The place where we would count the milliard glittering stars, terror-stricken lest each one “an eye should be,” piercing the very depth of our little souls? Is it the place where we would listen to the music of the birds, and long to have wings to fly, even as they, to distant lands? Or the place where we would sit at mother’s knee, enraptured by wonderful tales of great deeds and conquests? In short, is it love for the spot, every inch representing dear and precious recollections of a happy, joyous, and playful childhood?

If that were patriotism, few American men of today could be called upon to be patriotic, since the place of play has been turned into factory, mill, and mine, while deafening sounds of machinery have replaced the music of the birds. Nor can we longer hear the tales of great deeds, for the stories our mothers tell today are but those of sorrow, tears, and grief.

What, then, is patriotism? “Patriotism, sir, is the last resort of scoundrels,” said Dr. Johnson. Leo Tolstoy, the greatest anti-patriot of our times, defines patriotism as the principle that will justify the training of wholesale murderers; a trade that requires better equipment for the exercise of man-killing than the making of such necessities of life as shoes, clothing, and houses; a trade that guarantees better returns and greater glory than that of the average workingman.

Gustave Herve, another great anti-patriot, justly calls patriotism a superstition—one far more injurious, brutal, and inhumane than religion. The superstition of religion originated in man’s inability to explain natural phenomena. That is, when primitive man heard thunder or saw the lightning, he could not account for either, and therefore concluded that back of them must be a force greater than himself. Similarly he saw a supernatural force in the rain, and in the various other changes in nature. Patriotism, on the other hand, is a superstition artificially created and maintained through a network of lies and falsehoods; a superstition that robs man of his self-respect and dignity and increases his arrogance and conceit.

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to:

(A) provide contrasting definitions of a term
(B) advocate in favor of a new definition for an old term
(C) criticize a group of people for the incorrect interpretation of a term
(D) evaluate two definitions of a term
(E) state that an earlier definition of a term may not apply anymore and search for an alternative definition


2. The passage suggests which of the following about anti-patriots?

(A) They believed that patriotism was no different from murdering someone
(B) They believed that all patriots were scoundrels
(C) They believed that making a shoe was better than being a patriot
(D) They primarily defined patriotism in the negative sense
(E) They believed that patriotism was an artificially created superstition


3. The passage does NOT mention which of the following about patriotism?

(A) Patriotism may be the love for one’s birthplace.
(B) The earlier definition of patriotism would not apply to many modern Americans.
(C) Leo Tolstoy was the greatest anti-patriot of all times.
(D) People have contrasting views on patriotism.
(E) Patriotism can in some way be used to justify mass killing of people.


4. The tone of the passage towards anti-patriots can best be described as:
(A) Critical
(B) Laudatory
(C) Cynical
(D) Neutral
(E) Sarcastic