Anthropologist Jamie Tehrani borrowed biologists' 'phylogenetic analysis' to trace 58 related versions of Little Red Riding Hood. Plot events changed as freely as characters, and cautionary messages weren't especially stable. What survived best was the gruesome, frightening detail. Jack Zipes thinks stories last only if they matter, while Mathias Clasen sees scary tales as a safe way to practise fear.
The sentence endings (27-31) cover the first four paragraphs. The summary (32-36) covers Tehrani's method and findings. The multiple choice (37-40) runs from the method to Clasen at the end.
Sentence endings (A-F)
Questions 27-31
How to attack this block: Plot details vary around the world (the wolf eats the grandmother or locks her up). Tehrani rejects the idea that survival lessons are why the tales last. Academics have built theories despite a 'huge gap' in knowledge, so without factual basis. Biology's methods give insights, and all 58 stories came from oral traditions.
Question 27
Answer: CParagraph 1
What is true of plot details in fairy tales?
the same story often takes a variety of forms in different parts of the world… In some versions, the wolf swallows up the grandmother, while in others it locks her in a cupboard.
Question says → Passage says
show considerable global variationtakes a variety of forms in different parts of the world
details of the plotthe wolf swallows up the grandmother… locks her in a cupboard
Why: The first paragraph is all about versions: the wolf eats the grandmother or locks her up, the girl escapes alone or is rescued. Those are plot details, and they vary 'in different parts of the world'. Ending C.
The trap: Ending D (animals that become humans) borrows from the wolf dressing in the grandmother's clothes. But that's a disguise, not a transformation, and the passage never says all tales contain it.
Question 28
Answer: BParagraph 2, first three sentences
What idea about the life lessons in fairy tales does Tehrani reject?
The universal appeal of these tales is frequently attributed to the idea that they contain cautionary messages… But his research suggests otherwise.
Question says → Passage says
the useful lessons for lifecautionary messages / survival-relevant information
are the reason for their survivalThe universal appeal of these tales is frequently attributed to
Tehrani rejectshis research suggests otherwise
Why: The common view is that tales last because of their warnings, such as not talking to strangers. 'His research suggests otherwise' is Tehrani rejecting that. Later his analysis shows the cautionary parts change as freely as trivial details. Ending B.
The trap: Ending F (no factual basis) also sounds like rejecting theories, and it's the right ending for question 29. But question 28 is about the lessons themselves, and only B describes what those lessons are claimed to do.
Question 29
Answer: FParagraph 2, second half
What does the writer say about theories on why fairy tales matter to society?
'We have this huge gap in our knowledge about the history and prehistory of storytelling… That hasn't stopped anthropologists, folklorists and other academics devising theories
Question says → Passage says
Various theoriesdevising theories
the social significance of fairy talesthe importance of fairy tales in human society
without factual basisthis huge gap in our knowledge
Why: Academics came up with theories even though there's a 'huge gap' in what we know about storytelling's history. Theories built across a gap in knowledge have no facts underneath them. Ending F.
The trap: Ending A (biological methods) comes in the very next sentence, but that's about Tehrani's new way of testing the theories, not about how the theories were made.
Question 30
Answer: AParagraph 2, last sentence, and Paragraph 3
Where can insights into how fairy tales developed come from?
Now Tehrani has found a way to test these ideas, borrowing a technique from evolutionary biologists.
Question says → Passage says
methods used in biological researcha technique from evolutionary biologists / phylogenetic analysis
the development of fairy talesto discover how they have evolved
Why: Tehrani borrows phylogenetic analysis, a biologists' method, 'to discover how they have evolved'. Evolution is development, so biology's methods provide the insights. Ending A.
The trap: Ending C (global variation) is about plot details, not about where insights come from. 'May be provided through' needs a source or method, and only A gives one.
Question 31
Answer: EParagraph 4, second sentence
What do all the tales Tehrani analysed have in common?
he ended up with 58 stories recorded from oral traditions
Question says → Passage says
All the fairy tales analysed by Tehrani58 stories
originally spoken rather than writtenrecorded from oral traditions
Why: 'Oral' means spoken. The stories were written down later ('recorded'), but they came from oral traditions, so they were spoken first. Ending E.
The trap: 'Recorded' might make you think they were written originally. It means collected and written down, and 'from oral traditions' tells you the source was spoken.
Summary completion (word list A-I)
Questions 32-36
How to attack this block: Tehrani first checked whether links existed among the stories, then which aspects had the fewest variations. Events changed as freely as characters. Warning elements were no more stable than trivial details, and horror survived best. 'Plot' and 'people' are near-synonym traps.
Question 32
Answer: DParagraph 4, last sentence
What did Tehrani first check existed among the 58 stories?
Once his phylogenetic analysis had established that they were indeed related
Question says → Passage says
find out if ___ existedhad established that
among 58 storiesthey were indeed related
Why: His first step was to confirm the stories 'were indeed related'. If stories are related, there are links between them. 'Links' (D).
The trap: 'Records' (E) echoes 'recorded from oral traditions' in the sentence before, but that's how the stories were collected, not what he was testing for.
Question 33
Answer: FParagraph 5, first sentence
Which aspects did he look for that had the fewest of what?
First he tested some assumptions about which aspects of the story alter least as it evolves, indicating their importance.
Question says → Passage says
which aspectswhich aspects of the story
had fewest ___alter least
would be the most important onesindicating their importance
Why: If an aspect 'alters least', it has the fewest changes, or 'variations' (F). The second half matches too: 'indicating their importance' = 'would be the most important ones'.
The trap: 'Events' (B) is tempting because folklorists think events change least. But the gap is the measure being counted, not the aspect. 'Fewest events' would mean something else entirely.
Question 34
Answer: BParagraphs 5 and 6
Contrary to other beliefs, what did Tehrani find tended to change over time?
Folklorists believe that what happens in a story is more central to the story than the characters… However, Tehrani found no significant difference in the rate of evolution of incidents compared with that of characters.
Question says → Passage says
Contrary to other beliefsFolklorists believe… However
some ___ that were included in a storyCertain episodes are very stable… but there are lots of other details that can evolve quite freely
eventsincidents / what happens in a story
Why: Folklorists believed events were the stable core. Tehrani found incidents evolved just as fast as characters, so events changed too. Incidents = 'events' (B), and the plural fits 'some ___ that were'.
The trap: 'People' (H) is tempting since characters changed as well, but nobody believed characters were stable, so that isn't 'contrary to other beliefs'. 'Plot' (I) is close in meaning but doesn't work after 'some… that were'.
Question 35
Answer: CParagraph 7
Which parts of a story did Tehrani find surprisingly unimportant?
But the really big surprise came when he looked at the cautionary elements of the story… Yet in his analysis such elements were just as flexible as seemingly trivial details.
Question says → Passage says
was also surprisedthe really big surprise
some sort of ___the cautionary elements / the possible dangers that may be faced there
were unimportantjust as flexible as seemingly trivial details
Why: 'Cautionary' means giving a warning. These parts changed as freely as trivial details, which shows they weren't important to the story's survival. 'Warning' (C).
The trap: 'Horror' (G) is the opposite: it's what survived best. Don't mix up the parts that changed with the parts that lasted.
Question 36
Answer: GParagraph 8, first sentence
What mattered most for a story's survival?
The answer, it would appear, is fear - blood-thirsty and gruesome aspects of the story, such as the eating of the grandmother by the wolf, turned out to be the best preserved of all.
Question says → Passage says
most important in a story's survivalthe best preserved of all
horrorfear / blood-thirsty and gruesome aspects
Why: Gruesome, frightening detail was 'the best preserved of all', so fear is what keeps a story alive. The box word for fear and gruesomeness is 'horror' (G).
The trap: 'Ending' (A) might come to mind because the wolf being cut open happens near the end, but Tehrani found the middle no more important than the beginning or end. It's the frightening content that matters, not its position.
Multiple choice
Questions 37-40
How to attack this block: Tehrani compared many versions of one basic story. Zipes says gruesome details won't last unless they matter. Tehrani cites Chinese and Japanese versions, where the villain is a woman, to show Zipes' women-as-victims theory doesn't hold everywhere. Clasen sees scary stories as a safe way to learn fear.
Question 37
Answer: BParagraphs 3 and 4
How did Tehrani test his ideas?
Tehrani has used the same approach to compare related versions of fairy tales to discover how they have evolved
Question says → Passage says
many different forms of the same basic storyrelated versions of fairy tales / Little Red Riding Hood in its many forms
looked atcompare
Why: He took one tale, Little Red Riding Hood, collected 58 related versions and compared them. That's many forms of the same basic story. B.
The trap: D is the main trap: he borrowed biologists' method, but he used it on stories. He didn't compare stories with living creatures. C is wrong because the stories were confirmed as related, and A because all 58 came from oral traditions.
Question 38
Answer: DParagraph 9, second sentence
What is Jack Zipes' view when he responds to Tehrani?
'Even if they're gruesome, they won't stick unless they matter,' he says.
Question says → Passage says
features of stories only survivethey won't stick unless
if they have a deeper significancethey matter
Why: 'Won't stick' means won't survive, and 'unless they matter' is 'only if they have a deeper significance'. For Zipes, the deeper significance is women as victims. D.
The trap: C sounds like a fair summary of disagreeing with Tehrani, but Zipes doesn't say violence is overrated. He accepts gruesome detail exists and says it isn't enough on its own. A: women as victims is Zipes' own theme, but he never says Tehrani ignores changes in women's roles.
Question 39
Answer: AParagraph 9, last two sentences
Why does Tehrani mention the Chinese and Japanese versions?
But Tehrani points out that although this is often the case in Western versions, it is not always true elsewhere. In Chinese and Japanese versions, often known as The Tiger Grandmother, the villain is a woman
Question says → Passage says
Jack Zipes' theorythe perennial theme of women as victims
is incorrectit is not always true elsewhere
Why: Zipes says the tales last because women are victims. In the Chinese and Japanese versions the woman is the villain, not the victim, so his theory doesn't hold everywhere. A.
The trap: D is the reverse: the examples count against Zipes, not for him. 'But' at the start of the sentence signals disagreement.
Question 40
Answer: AParagraph 10, last sentence
What does Clasen believe scary tales do for us?
scary stories teach us what it feels like to be afraid without having to experience real danger, and so build up resistance to negative emotions
Question says → Passage says
a safe waywithout having to experience real danger
learning to deal with fearteach us what it feels like to be afraid… build up resistance to negative emotions
Why: We feel fear but face no real danger, which is safe, and we build up resistance, which is learning to deal with it. A.
The trap: C borrows 'Habits and morals change', but Clasen's point is that what scares us stays 'constant', so tales don't reflect changing values. B is the opposite of his view that we 'seek out' scary entertainment.
B (events). He found incidents evolved just as fast as characters, contradicting the folklorists' belief that events are the stable core.
Words from this passage worth keeping
disposes of(Paragraph 1)
gets rid of; here, kills
cautionary(Paragraph 2)
giving a warning
attributed to(Paragraph 2)
said to be caused by
devising(Paragraph 2)
inventing or planning
trivial(Paragraph 7)
small and unimportant
gruesome(Paragraph 8)
horrible, involving death or injury
gripping(Paragraph 8)
so exciting that it holds your attention
perennial(Paragraph 9)
lasting a long time or constantly recurring
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