An arco book arco is a registered trademark of Thomson Learning, Inc., and is used herein under license by Peterson’s. About The Thomson Corporation and Peterson’s

12. The correct answer is (C). Two clues help you here. First is the comparison to a parrot. A parrot
merely mimics sounds but has no real understanding of the meaning of the words. Second, the author
states that if the guide is interrupted, he finds it necessary to begin again. In other words, the guide has
memorized the words but has no understanding of their meanings.
13. The correct answer is (A). The idea of soberer stands in contrast to the idea of ecstasies. Thus, the
word does not have its ordinary meaning of “without alcohol” but a related meaning of “less exciting.”
14. The correct answer is (D).  As we noted above, the author hopes to frustrate the guide’s expecta-
tions. That the statue has broken legs and is an exhibit shown by a guide suggests that the statue is an
antiquity. The author, therefore, knows full well that the statue is of a subject long dead. But in order
to frustrate the guide, the author asks a stupid question.

---

Literature Subject Test
67
ARCO
■ SAT II Subject Tests
www.petersons.com/arco
15. The correct answer is (D).  An important structural feature of this poem is the repetition in line 9 of the
idea expressed in line 1. The poet in line 1 asserts that the poetry of earth is never dead and then proceeds
to prove the point in lines 2 through 8 by describing a summer scene. The poet makes the same assertion
in line 9 and proves the point in lines 10 through 14 by talking about a winter scene. The juxtaposition
of summer and winter strongly suggests an uninterrupted sequence of events.
16. The correct answer is (B). As was noted above, the poet begins by announcing in line 1 that the poetry
of earth is never dead. He then goes on to talk about the sound made by the grasshopper. The poet
reasserts in line 9 the idea announced in line 1 and goes on to talk about the sound made by the cricket.
Thus, the best choice is (B).
Further analysis of the poem would suggest that the sounds made by the grasshopper and the
cricket are intended to represent some more abstract concept, perhaps life itself. The fact that insects
are small and not usually regarded as individuals suggests the notion of an earth “teeming” with life.
But that idea of “life” does not appear as an answer choice.
Surely the second-best answer choice here is (A), since it hints at the idea discussed in the pre-
ceding paragraph. But (A) must be wrong since the author uses the changing of the seasons as a
backdrop against which the continuity of the poetry of earth is measured. More concretely, if the
phrase “changing of the seasons” were substituted for “poetry of earth” in line 9, the poet would be
asserting that the changing of seasons never stops. But lines 10 through 14 do not help prove that
assertion. Lines 10 through 14 go on to show that life continues even in the winter, but they do not
prove that the world will never end.