Prose Multiple Choice Set Questions and Answers

AP Multiple Choice 1 (227-229)

            “’Because, finally, I preferred this,’ the Controller answered. ‘I was given the choice; to be sent to an island, where I could have got on with my pure science, or to be taken on to the Controllers’ Council with the prospect of succeeding in due course to an actual Controllership. I chose this and let the science go.’ After a little silence, ‘Sometimes,’ he added, ‘I rather regret the science. Happiness is a hard master—particularly other people’s happiness. A much harder master, if one isn’t conditioned to accept it unquestioningly, than truth.’ He sighed, fell silent again, then continued in a brisker tone, ‘Well, duty’s duty, One can’t consult one’s own preference. I’m interested in truth, I like science. But truth’s a menace, science is a public danger. As dangerous as it’s been beneficent. It has given us the stablest equilibrium in history. Chinas’ was hopelessly insecure by comparison; even the primitive matriarchies weren’t steadier than we are. Thanks, I repeat, to science. But we can’t allow science to undo its own good work. That’s why we so carefully limit the scope of its researches—that’s why I almost got sent to an island. We don’t allow it to deal with any but the most immediate problems of the moment. All other enquiries are most sedulously discouraged. It’s curious,’ he went on after a little pause, ‘to read what people in the time of Our Ford used to write about scientific progress. They seemed to have imagined that it could be allowed to go on indefinitely, regardless of everything else. Knowledge was the highest good, truth the supreme value; all the rest was secondary and subordinate. True, ideas were beginning to change even then. Our Ford himself did a great deal to shift the emphasis from truth and beauty to comfort and happiness. Mass production demanded the shift. Universal happiness keeps the wheels steadily turning; truth and beauty can’t. And, of course, whenever the masses seized political power, then it was happiness rather than truth and beauty that mattered. Still, in spite of everything, unrestricted scientific research was still permitted. People still went on talking about truth and beauty as though they were the sovereign goods. Right up to the time of the Nine Years’ War. That made them change their tune all right. What’s the point of truth or beauty or knowledge when t eh anthrax bombs are popping all around you? That was when science first began to be controlled—after the Nine Years’ War. People were ready to have even their appetites controlled then. Anything for a quiet life. We’ve gone on controlling ever since. It hasn’t been very good for truth, of course. But it’s been very good for happiness. One can’t have something for nothing. Happiness has got to be paid for. You’re paying for it, Mr. Watson—paying because you happen to be too much interested in beauty. I was too much interested in truth; I paid too.’

            ‘But you didn’t go to an island,’ said the Savage, breaking a long silence.

            The Controller smiled. ‘That’s how I paid. By choosing to serve happiness. Other people’s—not mine. It’s lucky,’ he added, after a pause, ‘that there are such a lot of islands in the world. I don’t know what we should do without them. Put you all in the lethal chamber, I suppose. By the way, Mr. Watson, would you like a tropical climate? The Marquesas, for example; or Samoa? Or something rather more bracing?’

            Helmholtz rose from his pneumatic chair. ‘I should like a thoroughly bad climate,’ he answered. ‘I believe one would write better if the climate were bad. If there were a lot of wind and storms, for example…’

            The Controller nodded his approbation. ‘I like your spirit, Mr. Watson. I like it very much indeed. As much as I officially disapprove of it.’

1. The ‘it’ in “As much as I officially disapprove of it” refers to

A. Mr. Watson’s spirit

B. Mr. Watson’s enjoyment of bad climates

C. Mr. Watson’s choice of island

D. Mr. Watson’s intelligence

E. Mr. Watson’s attitude towards the government

The specific allusion to Ford in line 15 best serves to

A. interest the reader with a modern reference

B. blame mass production for people’s shifting views

C. draw a parallel between the speaker and Ford

D. make the novel more relatable

E. reinforce the novel’s satirical purpose

3. The speaker believes all of the following except

A. that science is beneficial in small doses

B. in sacrificing truth and beauty for stability

C. that a comfortable life is admirable

D. that conditioning and controlling are not necessary for happiness

E. that a society free of worries is best

4. From lines 38-42, the reader can infer that

A. Mond wishes he were on an island

B. unfortunate circumstances bring about better writing

C. Mond secretly desires more people like Helmholtz

D. Helmholtz’s choice is admirable

E. Mond disapproves of Helmholtz

5. Mond perceives progress as

I. conditioned happiness

II. superfluous

III. scientific progress

A. II. only

B. III. only

C. I. and II. only

D. I. and III. only

E. I. II. and III.

Prose Multiple Choice Answer Guide

·         The correct answer is A. Mustapha Mond says “I like your spirit, Mr. Watson.”

·         B. is incorrect because Mr. Watson only states that he writes better in bad climates.

·         C. is incorrect because it was not Mr. Watson’s island choice but the reason behind his island choice that Mustapha Mond liked.

·         D. is incorrect because Mond is not appreciative of Mr. Watson’s intelligence but what he wishes to do with that intellect.

·         E. is incorrect because Mr. Watson’s attitude towards government was not mentioned.

·         The correct answer is E. It is clear when the author mentions that the seed was planted from the time of Ford that such values are mirrored in modern society.

·         A. is incorrect because it is too generic; any modern reference could accomplish the purpose of interesting the reader.

·         B. is incorrect because, though mass production is mentioned, Mond specifically states that science as a whole is the culprit.

·         C. is incorrect because, while a parallel is being drawn between the two separate societies, the speaker is not comparing himself to Ford.

·         D. is incorrect because it is too generic; any modern reference could make the novel more relatable.

·         The correct answer is C. Though Mond believes a comfortable life is necessary to ensure happiness, he does not find such people admirable.

·         A. is incorrect because Mond discusses how minimal science benefits society.

·         B. is incorrect because Mond specifically states that truth and beauty must be traded for comfort and happiness.

·         D. is incorrect because Mond believes a collection of individuals with differing opinions must be conditioned and controlled to be happy

·         E. is incorrect because Mond mentions that after the Nine Years’ War, a worry-free society did come about, and that is the society Mond approves of.

·         The correct answer is D. Mond likes Helmholtz’s spirit, therefore approves of it

·         A. is incorrect because Mond has accepted the trade-off between science on a private island and his position as World Controller

·         B. is incorrect because the statement applies only to Helmholtz, not to society as a whole

·         C. is incorrect because, though Mond can appreciate Helmholtz’s fighting spirit, he needs most of society to be mindless in order to ensure their happiness

·         E. is incorrect because Mond says he officially disapproves of Helmholtz, not that he actually does

·         The correct choice is A. II. is the only correct answer because Mond believes current society is perfect, the “stablest equilibrium in history”. There is, then, no need for progress.

·         All other choices contain I. and III., which are incorrect because I. and III. imply that society needs to progress when Mond asserts that it doesn’t.