True/False/Cannot Say – Advanced Level – Test 4 (UK)

Passage 1

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

Through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force,

Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,

Into the school where the scholar is studying;

Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride,

Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain,

So fierce you whirr and pound you drums—so shrill you bugles blow.

Source: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass – Book XXI: Drum Taps – “Beat! Beat! Drums! (1865)

1. The “drums” that Whitman alludes to in this poem are the “drums of war”.

Passage 2

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,

Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,

Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,

Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,

Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,

So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

Source: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass – Book XXI: Drum Taps – “Beat! Beat! Drums! (1865)

2. The primary emotions that this passage intends to evoke are pride and patriotism.

Passage 2

Beat! beat! drums!—blow! bugles! blow!

Make no parley—stop for no expostulation,

Mind not the timid—mind not the weeper or prayer,

Mind not the old man beseeching the young man,

Let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,

Make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses,

So strong you thump O terrible drums—so loud you bugles blow.

Source: Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass – Book XXI: Drum Taps – “Beat! Beat! Drums! (1865)

3. Walt Whitman clearly served in the military in some capacity in his life.

Passage 3

For the first time in 17 years, there will be no whaling in Icelandic waters this summer.

Due to a shrinking international market for whale meat and the expansion of a no-fishing coastal zone, both of the nation’s major whaling companies have decided to abandon their summer hunting season altogether, meaning that no whales of any kind will be hunted in Iceland.

IP-Utgerd – a company specializing in harpooning minke whales – said that the expansion of the no-fishing zone would force their ships to travel farther out to sea, making the venture far more costly than usual. The company now says that they will be focusing on collecting sea cucumbers for the summer, according to Icelandic news platform RUV.

Hvalur, the other Icelandic whaling company, specializes in harpooning fin whales – an endangered species that is hailed for being the second largest whale in the world.

Though the company typically exports 100% of their catch to Japan, a shrinking demand for whale meat has prompted them to abandon their summer harpooning.

Whalers have been hunting in Icelandic waters since the country lifted their restrictions on whaling in 2003. Though the companies may reconsider their whaling ventures next summer, environmentalists and marine biologists are rejoicing over this year’s harpooning respite.

Source: McKinley Corbey, Good News Network – For the First Time in 17 Years, No Whales Will Be Harpooned in Icelandic Waters 

4. Pressure from social activists and environmentalists caused the changes in whale fishing laws to be enacted.

Passage 3

For the first time in 17 years, there will be no whaling in Icelandic waters this summer.

Due to a shrinking international market for whale meat and the expansion of a no-fishing coastal zone, both of the nation’s major whaling companies have decided to abandon their summer hunting season altogether, meaning that no whales of any kind will be hunted in Iceland.

IP-Utgerd – a company specializing in harpooning minke whales – said that the expansion of the no-fishing zone would force their ships to travel farther out to sea, making the venture far more costly than usual. The company now says that they will be focusing on collecting sea cucumbers for the summer, according to Icelandic news platform RUV.

Hvalur, the other Icelandic whaling company, specializes in harpooning fin whales – an endangered species that is hailed for being the second largest whale in the world.

Though the company typically exports 100% of their catch to Japan, a shrinking demand for whale meat has prompted them to abandon their summer harpooning.

Whalers have been hunting in Icelandic waters since the country lifted their restrictions on whaling in 2003. Though the companies may reconsider their whaling ventures next summer, environmentalists and marine biologists are rejoicing over this year’s harpooning respite.

Source: McKinley Corbey, Good News Network – For the First Time in 17 Years, No Whales Will Be Harpooned in Icelandic Waters 

5. Japan is a major world market for whale meat consumption.

Passage 3

For the first time in 17 years, there will be no whaling in Icelandic waters this summer.

Due to a shrinking international market for whale meat and the expansion of a no-fishing coastal zone, both of the nation’s major whaling companies have decided to abandon their summer hunting season altogether, meaning that no whales of any kind will be hunted in Iceland.

IP-Utgerd – a company specializing in harpooning minke whales – said that the expansion of the no-fishing zone would force their ships to travel farther out to sea, making the venture far more costly than usual. The company now says that they will be focusing on collecting sea cucumbers for the summer, according to Icelandic news platform RUV.

Hvalur, the other Icelandic whaling company, specializes in harpooning fin whales – an endangered species that is hailed for being the second largest whale in the world.

Though the company typically exports 100% of their catch to Japan, a shrinking demand for whale meat has prompted them to abandon their summer harpooning.

Whalers have been hunting in Icelandic waters since the country lifted their restrictions on whaling in 2003. Though the companies may reconsider their whaling ventures next summer, environmentalists and marine biologists are rejoicing over this year’s harpooning respite.

Source: McKinley Corbey, Good News Network – For the First Time in 17 Years, No Whales Will Be Harpooned in Icelandic Waters 

6. Sea Cucumbers are much less of a profitable venture than whale meat for IP-Utgerd.

Passage 4

“His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. But I had not much time to give him, because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders, to straighten a bent connecting-rod, and in other such matters. I lived in an infernal mess of rust, filings, nuts, bolts, spanners, hammers, ratchet-drills—things I abominate, because I don’t get on with them. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard; I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap—unless I had the shakes too bad to stand.

“One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, ‘I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.’ The light was within a foot of his eyes. I forced myself to murmur, ‘Oh, nonsense!’ and stood over him as if transfixed.

“Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn’t touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath:

“’The horror! The horror!’

Source: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)

7. The narrator gained haunting insights into what happens to someone at the moment just before death.

Passage 4

“His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. But I had not much time to give him, because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders, to straighten a bent connecting-rod, and in other such matters. I lived in an infernal mess of rust, filings, nuts, bolts, spanners, hammers, ratchet-drills—things I abominate, because I don’t get on with them. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard; I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap—unless I had the shakes too bad to stand.

“One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, ‘I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.’ The light was within a foot of his eyes. I forced myself to murmur, ‘Oh, nonsense!’ and stood over him as if transfixed.

“Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn’t touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath:

“’The horror! The horror!’

Source: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)

8. The dying man was once a great and powerful man.

Passage 4

“His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. But I had not much time to give him, because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders, to straighten a bent connecting-rod, and in other such matters. I lived in an infernal mess of rust, filings, nuts, bolts, spanners, hammers, ratchet-drills—things I abominate, because I don’t get on with them. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard; I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap—unless I had the shakes too bad to stand.

“One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, ‘I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.’ The light was within a foot of his eyes. I forced myself to murmur, ‘Oh, nonsense!’ and stood over him as if transfixed.

“Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn’t touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath:

“’The horror! The horror!’

Source: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)

9. Just before death, humans have a rush of vivid memories and flashbacks from their life.

Passage 4

“His was an impenetrable darkness. I looked at him as you peer down at a man who is lying at the bottom of a precipice where the sun never shines. But I had not much time to give him, because I was helping the engine-driver to take to pieces the leaky cylinders, to straighten a bent connecting-rod, and in other such matters. I lived in an infernal mess of rust, filings, nuts, bolts, spanners, hammers, ratchet-drills—things I abominate, because I don’t get on with them. I tended the little forge we fortunately had aboard; I toiled wearily in a wretched scrap-heap—unless I had the shakes too bad to stand.

“One evening coming in with a candle I was startled to hear him say a little tremulously, ‘I am lying here in the dark waiting for death.’ The light was within a foot of his eyes. I forced myself to murmur, ‘Oh, nonsense!’ and stood over him as if transfixed.

“Anything approaching the change that came over his features I have never seen before, and hope never to see again. Oh, I wasn’t touched. I was fascinated. It was as though a veil had been rent. I saw on that ivory face the expression of sombre pride, of ruthless power, of craven terror—of an intense and hopeless despair. Did he live his life again in every detail of desire, temptation, and surrender during that supreme moment of complete knowledge? He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath:

“’The horror! The horror!’

Source: Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness (1902)

10. The main emotion that this passage intends to evoke is anger.