The passage below is followed by questions based‘on its content. Answer the questions on the basis of what is stated or implied
in the passage and in any introductory material that may be provided.
Questions 7-19 are based on the following passage.
The following passage, set in the early 1970 ’s, is from a 1992 novel. The principal characters, Virginia and Clayton, are two cellists in a college orchestra. She’d met lots of crazy musicians, but no one like Clayton. He was as obsessed as the others, but he had a quirky sense of humor, a slow ironic counterpoint to his own beliefs. And he didn’t look quite like anyone else.5 He wore his hair parted dangerously near the middle and combed it in little ripples like Cab Calloway,l though sometimes he let it fly up a bit at the ends in deference to the campus pressure for Afros. His caramel-colored skin darkened to toffee under fluorescent light but sometimes 10 took on a golden sheen, especially in the vertical shafts of sunlight that poured into his favorite practice room where she’d often peek in on him-an uncanny complexion, as if the shades swirled just under the surface. Virginia’s friends gave her advice on how to get him.15 “You two can play hot duets together,” they giggled. As it turned out, she didn’t have to plan a thing. She was reading one afternoon outside the Fine Arts Building when the day suddenly turned cold. If she went back to the dorm for a sweater, she’d be late for orchestra rehearsal. So she 20 stuck it out until a few minutes before rehearsal at four. By that time, her fingers were so stiff she had to run them under hot water to loosen them up. Then she hurried to the cello room, where all the instruments were lined up like novitiates;2 she felt a strange reverence every time she 25 stepped across the threshold into its cool serenity. There they stood, obedient yet voluptuous in their molded cases. In the dim light their plump forms looked sadly human, as if they were waiting for something better to come along but knew it wouldn’t. 30 Virginia grabbed her cello and was halfway down the hall when she realized she’d forgotten to leave her books behind. She decided against turning back and continued to the basement, where the five-till-four pandemonium was breaking loose. Clayton was stuffing his books into his 35 locker.
“Hey, Clayton, how’s it going?"
As if it were routine, he took her books and wedged them in next to his. They started toward the orchestra hall. Virginia cast a surreptitious glance upward; five minutes 40 to four or not, Clayton was not rushing. His long, gangling frame seemed to be held together by molasses; he moved deliberately, negotiating the crush while humming a tricky passage from, Schumann,3 sailing above the mob. After rehearsal she reminded him that her books were in 45 his locker.
“I think I’ll go practice,” he said. “Would you like to listen?”
“I’ll miss dinner,” she replied, and was about to curse herself for her honesty when he said, “I have cheese and 50 soup back at the fraternity house, if you don’t mind the walk.”
The walk was twenty minutes of agonizing bliss, with the wind off the lake whipping her blue, and Clayton too involved with analyzing the orchestra’s hom section to 55 notice. When they reached the house, a brick building with a crumbling porch and weeds cracking the front path, she was nearly frozen through. He heated up a can of soup, and plunked the cheese down in the center of the dinette table.
“It‘s not much,” he apologized, but she was thinking 60 A loaf of bread, a jug of wine,4 and felt stated before lifting the -first spoonful. The house was rented to Alpha Phi Alpha,one of three Black fraternities on campus. It had a musty tennis-shoes-and-ripe-laundry smell. Books and jackets were strewn everywhere, dishes piled in the sink.
65 “When did you begin playing?" she asked.
“I began late, I’m afraid,” Clayton replied. “ Ninth grade.
But I felt at home immediately. With the music, I mean. The instrument took a little longer. Everyone said I was too tall to be a cellist.” He grimaced.
70 Virginia watched him as he talked. He was the same golden brown as the instrument, and his mustache followed the lines of the cello’s scroll.
"So what did you do?” she asked.
“Whenever my height came up, I would say, ‘Remember 75 the bumblebee.’ ”
“What do bumblebees have to do with cellos?"
“The bumblebee, aerodynamically speaking, is too large for flight. But the bee has never heard of aerodynamics, so it flies in spite of the laws of gravity. I merely wrapped my 80 legs and arms around the cello and kept playing.” Music was the only landscape in which he seemed at ease.
In that raunchy kitchen, elbows propped on either side of the cooling soup, he was fidgety, even a little awkward. But when he sat up behind his instrument, he had the irresistible 85 beauty of someone who had found his place.
I American jazz musician and bandleader (1907-1994)
2 Persons who have entered a religious order but have not yet taken final vows
3 German composer (1810-1856)
4 A reference to Edward Fitzgerald’s “A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou,” a line from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
7 The passage is best described as
(A) a social commentary on classical musicians in the early 1970’s '
(B) a nostalgic depiction of students in college orchestras
(C) a story of how one individual inspired many others
(D) an introduction to a character through the perspective of another character
(E) an illustration of a strained but enduring relationship
8 The references to “fluorescent light” (line 9) and “sunlight” (line ll) suggest the
(A) way that Clayton’s demeanor brightened when Virginia was nearby
(B) contrast between Clayton’s restraint and Virginia’s passion
(C) attentiveness with which Virginia regarded Clayton
(D) monotony of Clayton’s everyday routine
(E) superficiality of Clayton’s beauty
9 The imagery in lines 12-13 (“as if _ _ _ surface”) conveys
which of the following about Clayton?
(A) His complicated nature '
(B) His erratic reactions
(C) His unseemly complacency
(D) His passionate loyalty
(E) His tendency to argue
10 As contrasted with the language in the opening paragraph, the advice offered by Virginia’s friends (lines 14-15) functions primarily to
(A) break the mood of abstracted musing
(B) introduce an element of foreboding
(C) poke fun at the pretensions of romantic music
(D) contradict Virginia’s opinion of Clayton
(E) counter Clayton’s offbeat sense of humor
11 As described in lines 22-25, the atmosphere in the cello
room is most nearly one of
(A) creativity
(B) emptiness
(C) urgency
(D) sanctity
(E) accomplishment
12" In line 42, “crush” most nearly means
(A) pressure
(B) crowd
(C) power
(D) infatuation
(E) critical condition
13 In lines 42-43, the reference to Clayton’s humming
creates an impression that he is
(A) uncomfortable with making conversation
(B) amused by the plight of other musicians
(C) unaware of his effect on other people
(D) compelled to show off his talent
(E) immersed in his private world '
14 In the context of the passage, Clayton’s statement in
line 46 (“I think _ _ _ practice”) emphasizes his
(A) need to make a dramatic first impression
(B) willingness to disrupt a fixed routine
(C) consuming interest in music
(D) distaste for competition
(E) insecurity around other musicians
15 In line 52, the phrase “agonizing bliss” suggests that
Virginia’s pleasure is tempered by
(A) Clayton’s cold manner
(B) Clayton’s visible uneasiness
(C) her physical discomfort
(D) her overriding self-consciousness
(E) her sense that the happiness would be short-lived
16 In lines 59-61, Virginia’s reaction to the meal most
directly suggests that she
(A) was contented enough without the food
(B) was amused by Clayton’s attempts at hospitality
(C) was suddenly aware of the chaos in the fraternity kitchen
(D) felt guilty about making Clayton uneasy
(E) did not find the atmosphere conducive to romance
17 The description in lines 70-72 emphasizes how
(A) strikingly Clayton resembles famous musicians
(B) awkwardly‘Clayton behaves in social situations
(C) profoundly Clayton is affected by music
(D) closely Virginia associates Clayton with his cello
(E) strongly Virginia identifies with Clayton’s situation
18 In referring to the bumblebee (lines 77-80), Clayton conveys his
(A) superstitious nature
(B) cunning instincts
(C) frail pride
(D) resolute determination
(E) volatile temperament
19. In lines 82-85, the descriptions of Clayton in the kitchen and Clayton behind his instrument present a contrast between his
(A) chaos and organization
(B) mediocrity and excellence
(C) pretension and genuineness
(D) laziness and dedication
(E) clumsiness and gracefulness