minority, ethnic, and special-interest presses, ones thatnotherwise, lacking any solid base of marketplace support,nmight not survive. Nothing new in this kind of socialnengineering and fine-tuning. But the real problem ofngovernment support and nonsupport of the arts is morenknotty and gnarled. Perhaps fortunately, it as yet remainsnbeyond the power of government to do much more than tonmeddle with the arts. It seems to be, as yet, impossible forngovernment to work much aesthetic harm or good.nIn a smaller sense there are ‘always good reasons tonconsider American publishing, to expose its assumptionsnand to challenge its assertions and conclusions. In the smallnand beleaguered world of the study of literature, it isnimpossible to begin to understand the arts of any age,nincluding our own shabby one, without understanding also,nat least in general terms, the means of production and, asnwell, the motives of the producers, the sharecropper writersnPULP READING COMP.nFOR THE SATnThe following passage is an excerpt fromnthe mass-market novel Hot Flashes bynBarbara Raskin. Please read it carefullynand answer the questions below.nJudy (who didn’t marry until she wasnthirty-seven when she fell head overnheels in love with Michael O’Leary, thenwriter-in-residence at BU where shentaught) had been married only twonyears when Mike ran off with his previousnwife’s youngest daughter — a girlnnamed Ginger—who came to stay withnJudy and Mike while visiting colleges innthe Boston area. Since Mike had onlyndone the right “extended formerlyblendednfamily” thing by accommodatingnhis previous wife and allowingnGinger—who had been his stepdaughternforthree years, five years earlier—tonstay in his new home with his new wife,nno one knew whom to blame. At leastnGinger’s mother had the decency to callnJudy to apologize profusely and evennsuggested that if they worked together,nthey might successfully uncouple thatnunnatural couple — a suggestion thatnJudy politely declined despite the distraughtnmother’s hysteria about herndaughter not going to college.n1) Which is the best title for thisnpassage?na) “A Gid Named Ginger”nb) “Smart Women — FoolishnChoices”nc) “Blame It On Boston”nd) “Canada—Our Friendly Neighbornto the North”ne) “These Tangled Eighties”nLIBERAL ARTSn2) The mood created by the authornis one ofna) confusionnb) puzzlementnc) uncertaintynd) bewildermentne) perplexityn3) What is the main idea expressednby the author?na) That old people shouldn’t getnmarriednb) That Judy’s mom and Ginger’snmom are friendsnc) That Mike is a writernd) That both Judy and Ginger havenbeen victimized, not only bynMike, but by a society that prizesn1 beauty and youth above all othernqualities — including a BostonnUniversity educationne) I don’t known4) “That unnatural couple” (linen12) refers tonas well as the shell-game publishers. For many reasons thensuccessful literary scholars of our age have spent next to nontime examining the publishing business and how and tonwhat extent it has shaped the literature of the age. Publishersnhave been more or less immune to the kind of scrutinynhabitually faced by producers and distributors of othernproducts. Like the Press, with which they have a certainnkinship, publishers have been spared much for the sake ofnthe free flow of information and ideas. That this desired goalnhas not been achieved (yet) goes without saying. That thentoxic waste of outworn ideas and limited intellectual systemsn(Marxism, for a blatant example) is relentlessly preserved bynthe habits and assumptions of American publishers, whonwish to educate if not convert us even as we pay our moneynand take such choices they allow us, ought to give us pause,neven as we must turn away towards more pressing andnurgent problems. na) Mike and Gingernb) Ginger and Judync) Mike, Judy, and Gingernd) Ginger, Judy, Mike, and Scraps,nJudy’s dog from a previousnmarriagene) the author and her publishern5) Judging from the passage, thenreader can conclude thatna) Almost anything is better thanngoing to college in Bostonnb) Judy is a head-case from way backnnnc) After reading this passage in then• book, you would have to flip backnto this page several times beforenfinally remembering which is Judynand which is Gingernd) Mike and Ginger will soon benappearing on Ceraldone) I don’t known6) Which would best describe thenrelationship between Mike and Ginger?na) Father-Daughternb) “Uncle-Niece”nc) Kissing Cousinsnd) Just good friendsne) Soulmatesn7) All of the following are blurbs fornthe novel EXCEPTna) “Filled with laughter, tears, love,nand hate . . . like life itself!”nb) “Funny, sad, perceptive, andnoutrageous . . . Hot Flashes sizzles”nc) Barbara Raskin is one funnynlady … I laughed until I cried,nand laughed some more!”nd) “Touching, bawdy, and so true itnhurts . . .Hot Flashes deliversnthe goods — and how!”ne) “A megawatt express train of daredevilnaction!”n—by Chris Marcil and Sam ]ohnson.nReprinted from the October 1988 issuenof Metro magazine (NYC). Used withnpermission.nJANUARY 1989/15n