CARS QUESTION PACK 2 PASSAGE 12

66-70

Passage 12 (Questions 66–70)

Unlike a lie, which is a conscious and deliberate attempt to mask the truth, a myth is not malicious but simply naïve. It concerns something we formerly believed but have since outgrown. It speaks of marvelous encounters between gods and mortals, tells of wondrous supernatural creatures, and explains how things and people came to be the way they are. Today, however, we have put away such childish things. We know that "once upon a time" is a time that never was, a time unmeasurable by historical methods, a time existing only in the fancy of storytellers. To answer the question of human limitations by referring to the story of a forbidden fruit is like telling the tale of how the leopard got its spots. Simple aetiology, or explanation in the manner of Kipling's Just So Stories, will not do for sophisticated moderns.

The story of the Western world is, in effect, a story of demythologization. If it is true, as Freud believed, that the life of a culture, like the life of an individual, passes through definite stages of growth—then it becomes possible to "read" the history of Western culture as the poignant and painful story of children who, in their progress toward maturity, cast off all their illusions.

A brief history of demythologization might begin with Xenophanes, a Greek thinker who lived six centuries before the Common Era. Surrounded by people who believed in the literal reality of Zeus, Hera, Apollo, and the rest of the Homeric gods, Xenophanes struck a surprisingly modern note when he insisted that the gods were projections of the human mind, mere anthropomorphic inventions. If horses and cattle could draw, he said, they would draw gods that looked like horses and cattle.

If, in the service of demythologization, Xenophanes was the first to propound a theory of projection, Euhemerus posed the view that mythology has its origins in history. Euhemerus proposed that the gods were actual, historical individuals, most often monarchs, whose lives and deeds became wildly exaggerated by the popular mythological imagination. As proof of his theory, Euhemerus cited the extraordinary career of Alexander the Great, a historical figure who in his own lifetime was worshiped as a god. Euhemerism was well received in the Greco-Roman world, and at the beginning of the Christian era it provided religious polemicists with a method of denouncing pagans.

Religion is rooted in myth, and myth is rooted in illusion. This proposition seemed self-evident to two of the thinkers who have most influenced the twentieth century. Karl Marx asserted that the mythical, other-worldly dimensions of religion blinded people to their true task: converting this planet into paradise. Religion, he said, is "the opiate of the masses." And to Sigmund Freud, religion was the obsessional neurosis of children, destined to be outgrown as humanity evolved. Freud believed that in the process of growth, humanity was bound to turn away from religion, and that the beginning of the twentieth century marked the transition from childhood to maturity.

We have, at long last, grown up, emancipated ourselves from myth and magic, overthrown religion as a debilitating illusion. Naturally there is a wistfulness, a nostalgia for the past, a longing to return to a world in which the gods were meaningful realities. Such feelings, however, will pass as we become accustomed to our new-found freedom and the joy of a consciousness liberated from bondage to superstition and myth.

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The author's major contention about mythology is that:

A

nostalgia for the loss of the myths of a culture is natural and healthy.

B

myths will be replaced by coherent religions as humanity evolves.

C

myths are childish beliefs that will be outgrown as societies mature.

D

myths reflect primitive thought processes and will always be created.

Solution: The correct answer is C.

1. Rather than seeing such nostalgia as healthy, the passage author contends that such nostalgia, “a longing to return to a world in which the gods were meaningful realities,” will naturally occur as part of a culture’s progress toward full maturity but will pass and be replaced by a “new-found freedom and the joy of a consciousness liberated from bondage to superstition and myth.”

2. The passage author points out that “Religion is rooted in myth, and myth is rooted in illusion.” As humanity evolves, it will turn away from this. See rationale C.

3. The passage author states that myths such as encounters between gods and mortals are “childish things.” Moreover, demythologization is a defining characteristic of the history of Western culture: “it becomes possible to ‘read’ the history of Western culture as the poignant and painful story of children who, in their progress toward maturity, cast off all their illusions.” The passage author then concludes: “We have, at long last, grown up, emancipated ourselves from myth and magic, overthrown religion as a debilitating illusion.”

4. The passage author instead believes that although myths reflect primitive thought processes, as humans evolve they will turn away from myths. See rationale C.

A reasonable expectation for someone who accepts Freud's views on religion would be that:

A

the religious will increasingly be considered mentally disturbed.

Answer choice eliminated

B

conversions from cults to the major religions will increase.

C

membership in nonreligious organizations will increase.

D

attendance at religious services will decline.

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. Although Freud believed that “religion was the obsessional neurosis of children,” the more reasonable expectation is that religious people will not be seen as mentally disturbed but as existing in a state of consciousness that will be outgrown. See rationale D.

2. Freud saw a turning away from religion, not a conversion from cults to major religions, so this is not a reasonable expectation.

3. The passage author does not discuss membership in nonreligious organizations, so it cannot be inferred from the passage that this would be a reasonable expectation.

4. According to the passage author, “Freud believed that in the process of growth, humanity was bound to turn away from religion,” and a reasonable expectation from this would be that attendance at religious services would decline.

Early Christians used Euhemerism to argue that:

A

Greco-Roman mythology had no basis in fact.

Answer choice eliminated

B

pagan gods were anthropomorphic projections.

C

Jesus of Nazareth had historical reality.

D

non-Christian gods were glorified humans.

Solution: The correct answer is D.

1. Euhemerus maintained that the gods had some basis in fact, namely, as wildly exaggerated historical individuals. See rationale D.

2. This view was held by Xenophanes, not Euhemerus.

3. The passage does not discuss the historical reality of Jesus.

4. The passage author points out that “Euhemerus proposed that the gods were actual, historical individuals, most often monarchs, whose lives and deeds became wildly exaggerated by the popular mythological imagination. . . . Euhemerism was well received in the Greco-Roman world, and at the beginning of the Christian era it provided religious polemicists with a method of denouncing pagans.”

The author's attitude toward mythology can best be described as:

A

patronizing.

B

nostalgic.

C

uncomfortable.

D

antagonistic.

Solution: The correct answer is A.

1. This patronizing attitude is especially reflected in the reference to the myths as “childish things” and in the references to mythology as something to be outgrown.

2. There are no feelings of nostalgia on the part of the passage author who discusses nostalgia for the old myths as something that, like religion, will pass. Moreover, its passing is something to be desired “as we become accustomed to our new-found freedom and the joy of a consciousness liberated from bondage to superstition and myth.”

3. The passage author displays no discomfort but speaks confidently and in a patronizing way about the inevitable passing away of myth and religion as humans evolve to full maturity: “We have, at long last, grown up, emancipated ourselves from myth and magic, overthrown religion as a debilitating illusion.”

4. This is too strong a word—the passage author is too confident that myth is a passing phase in the evolution of humanity to feel threatened by it enough to be antagonistic. A representative example of the passage author’s attitude is as follows: “Unlike a lie, which is a conscious and deliberate attempt to mask the truth, a myth is not malicious but simply naïve.” Dismissing myth as naïve reflects a more patronizing than antagonistic attitude.

The passage suggests that both Marx and Freud:

A

proposed controversial ideas that have since been discredited.

Answer choice eliminated

B

contributed significantly to the history of Western thought.

C

started movements that restricted religious freedom.

Answer choice eliminated

D

hindered the moral progress of Western civilization.

Solution: The correct answer is B.

1. The passage author cites Marx and Freud to lend credence to the passage argument and therefore does not see their views as ideas that have since been discredited. See rationale B.

2. The passage author cites both Marx and Freud to support the passage argument that myth and religion represent an illusion and a passing phase in the evolution of human consciousness: “Karl Marx asserted that the mythical, otherworldly dimensions of religion blinded people to their true task: converting this planet into paradise. Religion, he said, is ‘the opiate of the masses.’ And to Sigmund Freud, religion was the obsessional neurosis of children, destined to be outgrown as humanity evolved.” Since the turning away from myth and religion represents a major step in human consciousness, the implication is that both Marx and Freud have contributed significantly to Western thought.

3. The passage author makes no reference to the ideas of Marx and Freud restricting religious freedom, instead considering the rejection of religion as a liberating movement in the evolution of human consciousness.

4. The passage author does not talk in terms of moral progress, although moral progress may arguably be implied by the reference to the overthrow of religion representing a “new-found freedom and the joy of a consciousness liberated from bondage to superstition and myth.”