PART FIVE: READINGS FOR WRITERS

Note: Suggested answers are provided here for the comprehension questions and the discussion questions that follow each of the seventeen reading selections. Numbers of relevant paragraphs from the selection follow reading comprehension answers and are shown in parentheses in the discussion answers.

Suggested Answers for “Three Passions”—Bertrand Russell

Note: The numbers in parentheses refer to relevant paragraphs in the selection.

Reading Comprehension Questions

1. d 2. a 3. d Answer a is too narrow; answer b is unsupported; answer c is too broad. 4. a Paragraph 1 5. b. Paragraph 2 6. False Paragraph 3 7. c 8. d …show more content…

The dialogue between Helene and the teacher shows Helene as an ideal little student who received approval from the teacher. The dialogue between Gregory and the teacher, however, clearly demonstrates Gregory’s eagerness to impress Helene and his unsuccessful, embarrassing attempt to gain the teacher’s approval. If Gregory had merely described what had happened, we would have a much less vivid impression of the characters involved.

4. In the body of the essay, Gregory is narrating a time that he was shamed publicly and no one came to his defense. In the closing scene, Gregory realizes that he has done the same thing—that he, too, has witnessed a person being shamed without assisting him. He feels a new kind of “shame,” that of having failed to help another man in need.

Critical Reading and Discussion

1. Gregory means that although his home life was one of poverty and want, his home was not a place of inhumane values, such as hatred and shame. But at school, which on its surface was a more positive place, he was made to feel hatred and shame. The ironic statement intrigues the reader and makes him or her want to know more about what Gregory means.

2. Gregory seems sad and resentful that the teacher did not understand why he misbehaved in class and that she assumed he was stupid and a troublemaker. But he also wanted her approval badly, as seen by the Community Chest incident and the fact that he got