Reading 21-Paul Theroux
Number of questions: 12. Read the following passage from Paul Theroux's 1985 essay
"Being a Man" carefully before you choose your answers.
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I have always disliked being a man. The whole idea of
. manhood in America is pitiful, in my opinion. This version
of masculinity is a little like having to wear an ill-fitting coat
for one's entire life (by contrast, I imagine femininity to be
an oppressive sense of nakedness). Even the expression "Be
a man!" strikes me as insulting and abusive. It means: Be
stupid, be unfeeling, obedient, soldierly and stop thinking.
Man means "manly"-how can one think about men
without considering the terrible ambition of manliness?
And yet it is part of every man's life. It is a hideous and
crippling lie; it not only insists on difference and connives
at superiority, it is also by its very nature destructiveemotionally damaging and socially harmful. ...
Any objective study would find the quest for manliness
essentially right-wing, puritanical, cowardly, neurotic and
fueled largely by a fear of women. It is also certainly
philistine. There is no book-hater like a Little League coach.
But indeed all the creative arts are obnoxious to the manly
ideal, because at their best the arts are pursued by
uncompetitive and essentially solitary people. It makes it
very hard for a creative youngster, for any boy who
expresses the desire to be alone seems to be saying that
there is something wrong with him.
It ought to be clear by now that I have something of an
objection to the way we turn boys into men. It does not
surprise me that when the President of the United States
has his customary weekend off he dresses like a cowboy-it
is both a measure of his insecurity and his willingness to
please. In many ways, American culture does little more for
a mart than prepare him for modeling clothes in the L. L.
Bean catalogue. I take this as a personal insult because for
many years I found it impossible to admit to myself that I
.wanted to be a writer. It was my guilty secret, because
being a writer was incompatible with being a man.
There are people who might deny this, but that is
because the American writer, typically, has been so at pains
to prove his manliness that we have come to see
literariness and manliness as mingled qualities. But first
there was a fear that writing was not a manly professionindeed, not a profession at all. (The paradox in American
letters is that it has always been easier for a woman to
write and for a man to be published.) Growing up, I had
thought of sports as wasteful and humiliating, and the idea
of manliness was a bore. My wanting to become a writer
was not a flight from that oppressive role-playing, but I
quickly saw that it was at odds with it. Everything in
stereotyped manliness goes against the life of the mind. The
Hemingway personality is too tedious to go into here, and
86 .:. Classroom Practice Exercises
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in any case his exertions are well-known, but certainly it
was not until this aberrant behavior was examined by
feminists in the 1960s that any male writer dared question
the pugnacity in Hemingway's fiction. All the bullfighting
and arm wrestling and elephant shooting diminished
Hemingway as a writer, but it is consistent with a
prevailing attitude in American writing: one cannot be a
male writer without first proving that one is a man ....
There would be no point in saying any of this if it were
not generillly accepted that to be a man is somehow-even
now in feminist-influenced America-a privilege. It is on
the contrary an unmerciful and punishing burden. Being a
man is bad enough; being manly is appalling (in this sense,
women's lib has done much more for men than for
women). It is the sinister silliness of men's fashions, and a
clubby attitude in the arts. It is the subversion of good
students. It is the so-called "Dress Code" of the Ritz-Carlton
Hotel in Boston, and it is the institutionalized cheating in
college sports. It is the most primitive insecurity.
And this is also why men often object to feminism but
are afraid to explain why: of course women have a justified
grievance, but most men believe-and with reason-that
their lives are just as bad.
1. Taken as a whole, the passage presents the argument that
(Al manliness leads to poor fashion sense.
(Bl men have historically oppressed women.
(C) men, as well as women, have been vlctims of gender
stereotyping.
(D) men who want to be writers cannot be manly.
(E) it has been easier for men to be writers than it has for women.
2. The rhetorical function of the first sentence n have always disliked
being a man.") is to
(Al challenge a statement taken asouniversaIJy true.
(B) present an idea in order to rebut it later.
(e) introduce an argument against feminism.
(D) put forth a personal observation for explication.
(E) assert the writer's strong distaste for men's writing.
3. The effect of the parenthetical in lines 4-5, "(by contrast ... sense
of nakedness)" is to
(Al insist that both men and women have been mistreated by
society.
(B) proffer sympathy for the plight of women.
(Cl argue for greater governmental regulation of pornography.
(D) assert a complete understanding of feminist complaints.
(El offer women masculinity as an alternative to femininity.
4. The antecedent oftkle pronoun "it" in the last sentence ofthe first
paragraph is best understood to be
(A) "my opinion" (line 2).
(B) "the expression 'Be a man!''' (lines 5-6).
(C) "America" (line 2).
(D) "one's entire life" (line 4).
(E) "having to wear an ill-fitting coat" (line 3).
5.
As used in line 17, the word "philistine" is best defined as
(Al opposed to competitive sports.
(B) threatened by assertive women.
(Cl ungrateful for masculine contributions.
(D) fearful of changes in society.
(E) indifferent to artistic pursuits.
6. The claim "There is no book-hater like a Little League coach" (line
17) is most likely presented in order to
l. recall the imperative from lines 6-7 ("Be stupid. , . stop
thinking").
II. connect the prior discussion of masculinity with the follOWing
discussion of writing,
.
Ill, refute widespread claims that athletics are anti-intellectual.
(A) Ionly
(B) If only
(Cl I and III only
(D] I and II only
(E) tIl, and 1II
7, The antecedent of the pronoun "this" in line 31 ("I take this as a
personal insult") is best understood to be
(A) the writer's objection to the process by which boys become
men,
(B) the customary dress orthe U,S, president.
(C) American culture'srestrictive influence on males.
(D) the attempt to quantify men's insecurities.
lE) the tradition of men dressing like cowboys.
8. The parenthetical sentence in lines 40-42 serves all of the following
rhetorical purposes EXCEPT
(A) to emphasize the statement that "there was a fear that writing
was not a manly profession" (line 39).
(B) to prepare readers for the later claim that men's lives are as
bad as women's.
(C) to counter the earlier claim that "the arts are pursued by
uncompetitive and essentially solitary people" (line 19-20),
(D) to augment the contrast drawn in the parenthetical in lines 4-5.
(E) to draw a parallel between the struggles faced by men and
those faced by women in the writing profeSSion,
9.
As used in paragraph 4, line 50, the word "aberrant" is best
understood to mean
(AI misogynistic.
(B) boorish.
(C) warlike.
(D) deviant.
(E) ineffectual.
10. The writer refers to the example of Hemingway in order to
I. describe the lengths to which male writers must go to combat
the idea that writing is not manly.
II. counter 1960s feminist critics' interpretation of Hemingway as
pugnacious.
III. prove his argument that a man must forcibly demonstrate his
manhood before being accepted as a writer.
(AI I only
(Bl II only
(C) I and II only
(D) I and 1Il only
(E) I, II, an d III
11. In paragraph 5, lines 57-1OiO, the relationship between the first and
the second sentences is best described as which of the following?
(AI The first sentence articulates an idea; the second counters it.
[Bl The first sentence presents a thought; the second augments it.
(C) The first sentence makes a radical claim; the second supports
it.
(D) The first sentence suggests a new view; the second clarifies it.
(El The first sentence argues a position; the second extends it .
. 12. The "primitive insecurity" at the end of paragraph 5 Oine 67) most
likely serves as a reference to
(A) "an oppressive sense of nakedness" (line 5).
(Bl "Any objective study" (line 14).
(C) "It is also certainly philistine" Oines 16-171.
(D) "uncompetitive and essentially solitary people" Oine 20).
(El "oppressive role-playing" (line 45).
Reading 28-Barbara Dafoe Whitehead
Number of questions: 12, Carefully read the following excerpt from "Women and the
Future of Fatherhood," by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, before choosing your answers,
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If the future of fatherhood depends on marriage, however,
its future is uncertain, Marriage depends on women as well
as men, and women are less committed to marriage than
ever before in the nation's history, In the past, women were
economically dependent on marriage and assumed a
disproportionately heavy responsibility for maintaining the
. bond, even if the underlying relationship was seriously or
irretrievably damaged, In the last third of the twentieth
century, however, as women have gained more
opportunities for paid work and the availability for child
care has increased, they have become less dependent on
marriage as an economic ar.rangement, Though. it is not
easy, it is possible for women to raise children on their
own, This has made divorce far more attractive as a
remedy for an unsatisfying marriage, and a growing
number of women have availed themselves of the option,
Today, marriage and motherhood are coming apart
Remarriage and marriage'rates are declining even as the
rates of divorce remain stuck at historic highs and
childbearing outside marriages becomes more common,
Mimy women see single motherhood as a choice and a
right to be exercised if a suitable husband does not corne
along in time,
The vision of the "first stage" feminism of the 19605 and
'70s, which held out the model of the career woman
unfettered by husband or children, has been accepted by
WOITlen only in part, Women want to be fettered by
children, even to the point of going through grueling
infertility treatments or artifiCial insemination to achieve
motherhood, But they are increasingly ambivalent about
the ties that bind them to a husband and about the
necessity of marriage as a condition of parenthood, In
1994, a National Opinion Research survey asked a group of
Americans, "Do you agree or disagree: one parent can
bring up a child as well as two parents together." Women
split 50/50 on the question; men disagreed by more than
two toone.
And indeed, women enjoy certain advantages over men
in a society marked by high and sustained levels of family'
breakup, Women do not need marriage to maintain a close
bond to their children, and thus to experience the larger
sense of social and moral purpose that comes with raising
children, As the bearers and nurturers of children and
(increasingly) as the sole breadwinners for families, women
continue to be engaged in personally rewarding and
socially valuable pursuits. They are able to demonst:
their feminine virtues outside marriage.
1. In paragraph 3, line 27, "fettered" most likely means
(AJ malevolent.
(B) attached.
(Cl shackled.
(D) derailed.
tEl frightened.
2. The main purpose of paragraph 4 is to
(A) summarize and repeat the author's opinion about women and
marriage.
((B) persuade the reader to believe women should not have
. children outside of marriage.
(C) put forth the idea that men are not needed in raising children.
(D) review the necessity of having two parents raise a child.
(El explain the reason divorce rates remain constant despite
dropping rates of marriage.
3.
The author claims all ofthe following are factors that have made
women less committed to marriage EXCEPT
(A) marriage no longer seen as tied to parenthood.
(B) the increase in economic opportunities.
(C) child care options.
(D) divorce rates are higher.
(E) choices abound for women.
4. Why is the future offatherhood described as "uncertain" (line 2l?
(A) No one can predict the future.
(B) Men no longer want to be fathers.
(C) Women no longer see marriage as their only option for
parenthood.
(D) The economy is conducive to single parenthood.
(E) Women are forgoing childbirth in order to achieve greater
financial gains.
5. What is the author's tone in this passage?
(A) persuasive and informative
(B) feminist and persuasive
(e) indifferent and uncertain
(D) uncertain and assertive
(El nostalgic and sorrowful
6.
What is the author'S purpose in mentioning the increasing rates of
divorce?
(A) to provide evidence for the author's thesis
(B) to give a possible reason for a recent trend
(C) to persuade readers to marry
(D) to justify the mother's right to be a single parent
(El to explain why fathers are inadequate parents
7, Which of the following statements would the author most likely
agree with?
(A) Fathers are unnecessary,
(B) Mothers no longer need men to be successful parents,
(e) Families are changing because of marriage trends,
(D) Men no longer want to care for their offspring.
(E) Women no longer feel economically dependent upon marriage.
S; The main focus of this excerpt is
(AJ children.
(B) motherhood.
(e) the economy.
(D) divorce.
(E) feminism.
9.
Feminism of the 1960s and 1970s advocated what?
(AI freedom and a career-driven life
(B) family bonds and multiple children
(e) religious fervor and a purpose-driven life
(D) fewer children and less marriage
(El single motherhood
10. Paragraph 1 mostly discusses
(AJ historical marriage ceremonies.
(B) the right to marry.
(0 the economy ofthe twentieth century.
(D) the changing role of women in history,
(E) fatherhood as a vanishing art.
11. When the author moves from paragraph 1 to paragraph 2, she
shifts from being
(A) nostalgic to being angry.
(B) scientific to being demanding.
(e) past to being present.
(D) understanding to being confused.
(E) scholarly to being emotional.
12. What is the author's concluding point in the last paragraph?
(Al Women rio longer need marriage.
(E) Women essentially control marriages.
(e) Men want Children more than women do.
(D) Fatherhood is controlled by the whims of women.
(E) Most women still see husbands as necessary.