New Unseen EST -Style Writing Passage #2 of Test 1

In a public square on the Indonesian island of Java, dusk falls. Families gather; it is a festival day. Children dart around while, on the edges of the square, vendors [12] hawk snacks and toys. A large screen, lit from behind, stands prominently in the square. A twenty-piece percussion orchestra, or gamelan, prepares to play.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) stock

• (C) advertise

• (D) trade

Answer explanation

The correct answer is (A). Choice (A) is correct because “hawk” means to call out and sell, which is what vendors at festivals do. Choice (B) is incorrect because, while the vendors may stock merchandise, the author’s intent here is to describe how they sell that merchandise. Similarly, choices (C) and (D) are incorrect because the vendors are selling—not advertising or trading—goods.

In a public square on the Indonesian island of Java, dusk falls. Families gather; it is a festival day. Children dart around while, on the edges of the square, vendors [12] hawk snacks and toys. A large screen, lit from behind, stands prominently in the square. A twenty-piece percussion orchestra, or gamelan, prepares to play.

[13] The scene is modern-day Java, or perhaps Java hundreds of years ago. The performance is wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, one of the world’s oldest storytelling 14 traditions its origins stretch back to the ancient spiritual practices of Indonesia’s original inhabitants, who believed that the spirits of the ancestors governed the living world. Ceremonial puppet plays addressed the spirits, asking them to help the living.

At this point, the author is considering deleting the underlined sentence. Should the writer do this?

• (A) Yes, because it inserts an irrelevant opinion.

• (B) Yes, because it distracts from the main ideas of the paragraph.

• (C) No, because it provides a transition from the previous paragraph to this one.

• (D) No, because it explains what wayang kulit is.

Answer explanation

The correct answer is (C). Choice (C) correctly suggests that this sentence provides a transition between the scene depicted in the first paragraph and the ancient and modern tradition of puppetry, and the writer should not delete it. Choice (A) is incorrect because this sentence is not an opinion. Choice (B) is incorrect because this sentence does not distract from but rather helps in contextual izing the main ideas of the paragraph. Choice (D) is incorrect because it is the following sentence that explains what wayang kulit is.

The scene is modern-day Java, or perhaps Java hundreds of years ago. The performance is wayang kulit, or shadow puppetry, one of the world’s oldest storytelling ((14)) traditions its origins stretch back to the ancient spiritual practices of Indonesia’s original inhabitants, who believed that the spirits of the ancestors governed the living world. Ceremonial puppet plays addressed the spirits, asking them to help the living.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) traditions and its origins stretch

• (C) traditions, its origins stretch

• (D) traditions. Its origins stretch

Answer explanation

14. The correct answer is (D). Choice (D) correctly uses end punctuation to correct this run-on sentence. Choices (A), (B), and (C) are incorrect because they do not employ the correct punctuation to denote two independent clauses.

Over two thousand years ago, islands such as Java, Bali, and Sumatra saw their first ((15)) Indian migrants, a nation to which Indonesia was linked through trade relations. In the centuries that followed, Indian culture influenced every aspect of Indonesian life.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) migrants from India, a nation to which Indonesia

• (C) Indian migrants, to which a nation Indonesia

• (D) Indian migrants, a nation of people to which Indonesia

Answer explanation

15. The correct answer is (B). Choice (B) is correct because the phrase, “a nation to which Indonesia had trade relations” should refer to the country of India, not “migrants.” Choices (A) and (D) are incorrect because the modifier is misplaced. Choice (C) is incorrect because it is awkward and doesn’t make sense.

The puppet plays reflected these cultural changes. ((16)) They began to depict narratives from Hindu religious texts, including the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Serat Menak. Traditional Indonesian stories were blended into Hindu epics or lost altogether. Later, when Islam began to spread throughout Indonesia, puppet plays again transformed. The Islamic religion ((17)) prohibited the display of gods in human form, so Indonesians adapted their art by making flat, leather puppets that cast shadows on a screen. The puppets ((18)) themselves remain unseen during the performance; only their shadows were visible. Wayang kulit was born.

At this point, the writer is considering adding the following sentence.

A master of shadow puppetry is called a dalang.

Should the writer do this?

• (A) Yes, because it provides relevant and new information about the practice of wayang kulit.

• (B) Yes, because it adds an important fact to the paragraph’s focus on shadow puppetry.

• (C) No, because it repeats information that has already been given.

• (D) No, because it distracts from the paragraph’s focus on cultural changes.

Answer explanation

16. The correct answer is (D). Choice (D) is correct because this sentence is tangential to the paragraph’s focus on the cultural influ ences of Hindu culture on the Indonesian way of life. Choice (A) is incorrect because this information is not relevant. Choice (B) is incorrect because this paragraph is not focused on the actual practice of shadow puppetry. Choice (C) is incorrect because this information has not been presented before this sentence.

The puppet plays reflected these cultural changes. ((16)) They began to depict narratives from Hindu religious texts, including the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Serat Menak. Traditional Indonesian stories were blended into Hindu epics or lost altogether. Later, when Islam began to spread throughout Indonesia, puppet plays again transformed. The Islamic religion ((17)) prohibited the display of gods in human form, so Indonesians adapted their art by making flat, leather puppets that cast shadows on a screen. The puppets ((18)) themselves remain unseen during the performance; only their shadows were visible. Wayang kulit was born.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) discouraged d

• (C) hindered

• (D) restricted

Answer explanation

17. The correct answer is (A). Choice (A) reflects the paragraph’s emphasis that de picting gods in human form was not allowed under any circumstance. Choices (B), (C), and (D) are incorrect because these words do not suggest complete proscription the way choice (A) does.

The puppet plays reflected these cultural changes. ((16)) They began to depict narratives from Hindu religious texts, including the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Serat Menak. Traditional Indonesian stories were blended into Hindu epics or lost altogether. Later, when Islam began to spread throughout Indonesia, puppet plays again transformed. The Islamic religion ((17)) prohibited the display of gods in human form, so Indonesians adapted their art by making flat, leather puppets that cast shadows on a screen. The puppets ((18)) themselves remain unseen during the performance; only their shadows were visible. Wayang kulit was born.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) themselves will remain unseen during the performance

• (C) themselves remained unseen during the performance

• (D) themselves had been remaining unseen during the performance

Answer explanation

18. The correct answer is (C). Choice (C) is correct because it places the verb in the past tense. Choice (A) is incorrect because the present tense is an inappropriate shift from the past tense that the rest of the paragraph uses. Choices (B) and (D) are incorrect because the sentence requires the simple past tense.

Java is particularly well-known for its continuation of the shadow puppet tradition. ((19)) Performances are epic events, lasting all night long from sunset to sunrise with no break at all. They take place in public spaces and are performed on holidays and at family celebrations. At the center is a large screen, backlit by a gas or electrical light. Behind this screen sits the dalang, or shadow master, traditionally a man.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) Performances are epic events, lasting from sunset to sunrise with no break.

• (C) Performances are epic events, lasting all night long from sunset to sunrise without taking a break.

• (D) Performances are epic events, lasting all night.

Answer explanation

19. The correct answer is (B). Choice (B) con veys both the duration of the events and the lack of interruptions without being redundant or wordy. Choice (A) is incorrect because “all night long” is redundant. Choice (C) is incorrect because it is redundant and wordy; while it is constructed better by omitting “at all,” “all night long from sunset to sunrise” is still redundant. Choice (D) is incorrect because it leaves out the lack of interruptions.

Java is particularly well-known for its continuation of the shadow puppet tradition. ((19)) Performances are epic events, lasting all night long from sunset to sunrise with no break at all. They take place in public spaces and are performed on holidays and at family celebrations. At the center is a large screen, backlit by a gas or electrical light. Behind this screen sits the dalang, or shadow master, traditionally a man. He manipulates the puppets—sometimes more than a hundred of them in one show—with rods, voicing and singing all of the roles. ((20)) Simultaneously, he directs the gamelan, the large percussive orchestra, which consists of percussive instruments, some of which are played by mallets.

Which choice most effectively maintains the paragraph’s focus on relevant information and ideas?

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) Simultaneously, he directs an orchestra.

• (C) Simultaneously, he directs an orchestra with instruments, some of which are played by mallets.

• (D) Simultaneously, he directs the gamelan, the large percussive orchestra.

Answer explanation

20. The correct answer is (D). Choice (D) continues the author’s use of specific Indo nesian terms while editing out unnecessary and redundant information. Choice (A) is incorrect because the mention of “percus sive instruments” is redundant. Choices (B) and (C) are incorrect because they leave out relevant information.

Each puppet is carefully crafted, a flat figure that is perforated to project a detailed shadow. Artists begin creating a puppet by tracing the outline of a paper model on leather. The leather figure is painstakingly smoothed and treated before being passed onto another craftsperson, who paints it. Then, the puppet’s moving parts—the arms and hands—are added, along with the sticks used ((21)) to manipulate their parts. These puppets follow an established set of conventions: evil characters have grotesque faces, while noble ones have more refined features. They are highly stylized caricatures, rather realistic figures.

• (A) NO CHANGE

• (B) to manipulate his parts

• (C) to manipulate its parts

• (D) to manipulate her parts

Answer explanation

21. The correct answer is (C). Choice (C) is correct because the pronoun “its” should refer back to the antecedent “the puppet.” Choice (A) is incorrect because “their” is plural and “puppet” is not. Choices (B) and (D) are incorrect because “the puppet” is neither male nor female.