Entry Exam Category: College Admission Exams
Course: Accuplacer
Exam: Accuplacer Reading Timed Practice Test
Practice Question
Extract
Some scholars believe that the frequent use of repetition in Native American ceremonial texts was a result of their oral nature and helped make the works easy to remember. Native American scholar Paula Gunn Allen argues that this factor must be peripheral, however, because people in societies without writing traditionally developed finely tuned memories. Native American children learned early to remember complicated instructions and long stories by heart. For a person who couldn’t run to a bookshelf to look up information, reliance on memory became very important in everyday life. Such highly developed memory is not likely to fail on ceremonial occasions.
In context, what does the final sentence suggest about Native American ceremonial texts?
Answer Choices
- A: Understanding them requires a highly developed memory.
- B: Their inclusion of complicated and detailed material is traditional.
- C: They are important in the everyday lives of many Native Americans.
- D: Their use of repetition cannot be explained as an aid to memorization.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The final sentence supports Paula Gunn Allen’s argument that repetition in ceremonial texts wasn’t primarily used to aid memory—because members of oral cultures already had strong memory skills. Since their memories were highly developed due to a lack of writing systems, they wouldn’t need repetition just to remember something, especially on important occasions. This challenges the original explanation that repetition existed to make texts easier to memorize.