501 Critical Reading Questions

a.
Salad is the best choice, because (lines 4–7) at the time, Ameri-
cans were beginning to eat healthier foods, such as vegetables.
19.
e.
Lines 33 and 34 explain that he skipped the fermentation
process, which means that the fish was fresh, or raw. If you
answered choice b, check back to the passage. There is no rea-
son to believe that sushi with fermented rice was not being con-
sumed in Edo before Yohei’s innovation. If you answered choice
d, note that the passage does not indicate when, or with whom,
wasabi began being used as a condiment with nigiri zushi.
20.
c.
It states in lines 42 and 43 that ama ebi is raw shrimp, and shime
saba is marinated mackerel. You can infer that ebi means shrimp,
501
Critical Reading Questions

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because “raw” is not one of your choices. You can also infer that
shime means marinated, because mackerel is not one of your
choices. Therefore, shime ebi means marinated shrimp.
21.
d.
Nowhere in the passage does the author mention a preference
for either type of sushi. The answer to choice a may be found in
lines 36 and 37. Choice b is found in lines 10–13, choice c is
answered by lines 46–51, and choice e is answered by
lines 26–29.
22.
a.
It is noted in lines 15 and 16 that sushi consumption in America
is 40% higher than it was in the late 1990s (five years ago).
While the other answers might be true, they are not described
in the passage.
23.
b.
Unpalatable may be defined as not agreeable to taste; from the
Latin palatum, which refers to the roof of the mouth. You know
the word palate as the roof of the mouth, so unpalatable most
likely has to do with the sense of taste. The biggest clue to the
definition comes in line 24, which states that Americans have
decided, this once-scorned food is truly delicious.
24.
d.
It is mentioned in lines 25–26 that sushi was developed for the
purpose of preserving fish. Line 29 clearly states that pickling,
which takes place at the end of the sushi-making process, is a
means of preserving.
25.
d.
The nori is typically on the outside of the roll, surrounding the
rice (lines 46 and 47). If the rice is wrapped around the seaweed,
the inside (rice) is now on the outside. In addition, you could
use the process of elimination, as none of the other choices
make sense.
26.
c.
The author does not have a bite to his argument, as required by
satire, cynicism, and sarcasm. He is also not speaking to two
audiences, one that gets it and one that doesn’t, as with irony.
He is simply trying to be funny, as in lines 1–3, which says that
once a boy becomes a man, he will compete for cash on 
an island.
27.
d.
This is the only statement made by both authors (see Passage 1
lines 37–38, and Passage 2 lines 33–34). Don’t be tricked by the
choices that are true, such as a, b, and e. They need to be
believed by both authors to be correct.
28.
a.
Passage 2 repeats a number of times its first question: Why does
Reality TV get such a bad rap? Lines 2 and 3 explain the argu-
ment further, saying its popularity is blamed on degenerate
morals and a decreasing attention span. The first lines of para-
graph 2 (13–16) again question the argument against Reality
2 4
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