SAT Reading: How to approach a Literature passage | The Complete SAT Course - Class 10 PDF Download

This passage is adapted from Amit Chaudhuri, A Strange and Sublime Address. ©1991 by Amit Chaudhuri. A ten-year-old boy named Sandeep travels with his mother, his aunt (Mamima), and his uncle (Chhotomama) to visit family in Calcutta, India.　

Two boys were playing carrom on the steps of a small, painted shed which had the following words on its wall in large, black letters: NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SPORTSMEN. A single table-tennis table inside the shed could be glimpsed through the window. The boys interrupted their game to give Chhotomama directions to the house in a series of sporadic, enthusiastic gestures. Oh yes, they knew the old couple. And yes, their son and daughter-in-law had arrived last night with their first child.

“Is it a girl or a boy?” asked Mamima, rolling down the window.

“A girl,” said the boy.

Mamima rolled up her window before the mosquitoes came in. The two boys vanished behind them. When they reached the house, they found that the old man was waiting on the verandah with a lantern in his hand. Moths were shuddering round and round the lantern, though the old man was oblivious to them. He had come out because he had heard the throbbing of the engine in the distance.

The night had been silent except for the questioning cry of an owl and the continual orchestral sound of crickets in the bushes. The throbbing of the engine had, therefore, travelled through the silence to the old man’s listening ear, and to his wife’s ear, even when the car was relatively far away and beyond their range of vision. They had pondered over the sound, and finally, he had lit the lantern and shuffled out.

“I told her,” he said, referring to his wife. “I told her that I heard the car, I knew it was the car, I told her you were coming.”

Once they were inside, Mamima gave the pot of yoghurt and the pot of sweetmeats to the old lady. “There was no need,” she said. “Oh really,” she said. “This is too much,” she insisted, with the air of one who has just received the Kohinoor diamond as a birthday present. “Come, come, come,” said Chhotomama, with the air of someone who has just given the Kohinoor diamond as a birthday present, and refuses to be overawed by his own generosity. “It’s nothing.” It was nothing, of course, only Ganguram’s sweets and yoghurt, but they fussed and fussed and created the illusion that it was something, something unique and untasted and unencountered.

The son and the daughter-in-law emerged shyly from the anteroom. They both stooped gently to touch Chhotomama’s feet, and Sandeep’s aunt’s and his mother’s feet, a traditional greeting and a mark of obeisance towards one’s elders. “Oh no no no,” said Chhotomama, struggling to keep the son’s hand away from his feet. “There’s no need for all this.” This was half a token gesture towards modesty, and half towards the new, “modern” India—Nehru’s secular India, free of ritual and religion.

“I have not met you for two years, Dada,” said the son, struggling to get his hands near Chhotomama’s toes. “You must not stop me.” This was half a token gesture towards modesty, and half towards the old, “traditional” India—Gandhi’s India of ceremony and custom.

Sandeep, meanwhile, had come to the conclusion that the grown-ups were mad, each after his or her own fashion. Simple situations were turned into complex, dramatic ones; not until then did everyone feel important and happy. Will they never grow up? thought Sandeep irately. He glanced around him. A single blue, fluorescent tube was burning on the wall. It was not a big room. Despite its bareness, the impression it gave was of austerity rather than poverty. It made one remember that poverty meant displacement as well as lack, while austerity meant being poor in a rooted way, within a tradition and culture of sparseness, which transformed even the lack, the paucity, into a kind of being.

Question 1: Determining explicit meaning

• Pick out key words and ideas in the question
• Scan the passage to find where those keywords appear
• Read around the keywords in the passage to find the answer
• Express the answer in your own words
• Find a match for your prediction in the choices!

Q.1. According to the passage, the old man was standing on the verandah because (DETERMINING EXPLICIT MEANING)
(a) he was watching cars travel down the road.
(b) the two boys had reported the visitors would soon arrive.
(c) he had heard what he believed to be the visitors’ car.
(d) he enjoyed listening to the quiet sounds of the evening.

Correct Answer is Option (c)
This is the best choice. After mentioning the old man on the verandah, the passage tells us that "He had come out because he had heard the throbbing of the engine in the distance." The following paragraph describes this in further detail.

Q.2. In the passage, the yoghurt and sweetmeats are compared to a
(a) jewel.
(b) cuisine.
(c) wedding gift.
(d) generous donation.

Correct Answer is Option (a)
This is the best choice. When Mamima and the old lady exchange the yoghurt and sweetmeats, the narrator says they act like they're exchanging something much more valuable, like "the Kohinoor diamond".

Question 3: Words and phrases in context

• Cover up the choices
• Go back to the passage to find the word/phrase
• Make up your own version of the word/phrase using context clues in the surrounding sentences
• Uncover the choices, and find a match to your prediction in the choices

Q.3. As used in paragraph 7, “air” most nearly means
(a) atmosphere.
(b) absence.
(c) demeanor.
(d) melody.

Correct Answer is Option (a)
This is the best choice. In context, "air" is used to characterize the behavior of a person. "Demeanor", which refers to someone's outward manner or attitude, means something very similar.

Questions 4 and 5: Analyzing purpose and Citing textual evidence

• Rephrase the first question using your own words. Try starting your version with How? What? or Why?
• Try to find the answer to your version of the question by reading around the quotations provided by the choices in the second question.

Q.4. The characters’ behavior during the gift giving mainly serves to
(a) emphasize the lavish value of the gift.
(b) inflate the significance of the gesture.
(c) convey indifference toward the gift.
(d) stress the need for polite behavior.

Correct Answer is Option (b)
This is the best choice. While the gift being given is actually very simple, the behavior of the women "created the illusion" that the gift actually had tremendous value, like the "Kohinoor diamond".

Q.5. Which choice provides the best evidence for the answer to the previous question?
(a) "It was nothing, of course, only Ganguram’s sweets and yoghurt..."
(b) "they fussed and fussed and created the illusion that it was something, something unique and untasted and unencountered."
(c) “'Oh no no no,' said Chhotomama, struggling to keep the son’s hand away from his feet. 'There’s no need for all this.'”
(d) “'I have not met you for two years, Dada,' said the son, struggling to get his hands near Chhotomama’s toes. 'You must not stop me.'”

Correct Answer is Option (b)
This is the best choice. These lines tell us how the behavior of the characters ("fussed and fussed") served to create an "illusion": that the gift was something rare and valuable, instead of simple.

Question 6: Analyzing purpose

• If possible, rephrase the question using your own words.
• Go back to the passage and read around the reference—before looking at the choices!
• Predict the answer, expressing it in your own words
• Find a match to your prediction in the choices using Process of Elimination

Q.6. The description of Chhotomama and the son’s interaction mainly serves to
(a) show how the characters diverge in their approaches to cultural practices.
(b) emphasize the characters’ complex relationship.
(c) stress the characters’ misinterpretations of Indian history.
(d) depict how the characters created gestures that became routine.

Correct Answer is Option (b)
This is the best choice. This question focuses on the sequence of the passage where one character touches the feet of others ( "a traditional greeting"). Throughout that interaction, one character pushes against that cultural tradition ("There’s no need for all this") while another character pushes for that cultural tradition ("You must not stop me").

Question 7: Analyzing point of view

• Rephrase the question to take control of it. If possible, use How, What, or Why
• Consider positive vs negative. Is the character's perspective strongly positive (++), mildly positive (+), neutral (0), mildly negative (-), or strongly negative (--)?
• Use process of elimination

Q.7. Over the course of the passage, Sandeep comes to view the adults as
(a) strict.
(b) reserved.
(c) sophisticated.
(d) immature.

Correct Answer is Option (d)
This is the best choice. Sandeep complains that the adults are "mad" (crazy) and create lots of drama, asking "Will they never grow up?" This suggests that Sandeep feels the adults are immature.

Question 8: Understanding relationships

• Try to sum up the situation in your own words
• Ask yourself "what's going on here?" "How does each character feel about what's going on, and how do they feel about each other?"
• Consider positive and negatives, and let that guide your process of elimination

Q.8. Sandeep would be most critical of which action from the passage?
(a) The two boys playing carrom
(b) Mamima’s inquiry about the gender of the child
(c) The old lady’s reaction to the gift
(d) The son and daughter-in-law waiting in the anteroom

Correct Answer is Option (c)
This is the best choice. Sandeep complains that the adults turn "simple situations" into "complex, dramatic ones". In the gift giving part of the passage, both women exaggerate the value and importance of the gift ("they fussed and fussed and created the illusion..."). This is exactly the type of behavior Sandeep criticizes.

Question 9: Citing textual evidence

• Simplify the question as much as you can, using your own words
• Then, apply that simple "test" question to the quotations in the choices
• With each choice, ask yourself: "Is this quotation doing that thing the question wants it to do?"

Q.9. Which lines from the passage most strongly suggest that India has experienced social change?
(a) “'There was no need,' she said. 'Oh really, she said. 'This is too much,' she insisted..."
(b) "They both stooped gently to touch Chhotomama’s feet, and Sandeep’s aunt’s and his mother’s feet, a traditional greeting and a mark of obeisance towards one’s elders."
(c) "This was half a token gesture towards modesty, and half towards the new, “modern” India—Nehru’s secular India, free of ritual and religion."
(d) "It made one remember that poverty meant displacement as well as lack, while austerity meant being poor in a rooted way, within a tradition and culture of sparseness..."

Correct Answer is Option (c)
This is the best choice. These lines describe the "new, 'modern' India", implying that Indian society has changed by becoming less focused on "ritual and religion".

Question 10: Words and phrases in context

• Cover up the choices
• Go back to the passage to find the word/phrase
• Make up your own version of the word/phrase using context clues in the surrounding sentences
• Uncover the choices, and find a match to your prediction in the choices

Q.10. As used in the final paragraph, "impression" most nearly means
(a) appearance.
(b) belief.
(c) imitation.
(d) recollection.

Correct Answer is Option (c)
This is the best choice. In describing the "impression" the room gives, the passage focuses on how the room looks, including the "bareness" of the room, the size of the room, and the "single blue, fluorescent tube" that lights the room.