A Lasting Tribute

27. 27. What is an objective summary of the selection?

• A. A visit to the Taj Mahal leaves an indelible impression.

• B. The construction of the Taj Mahal took a long time to complete.

• C. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by an emperor as a tribute to his late wife.

• D. The emperor Shah Jahan was overthrown and imprisoned by one of his sons.

28. 28. What is the purpose of beginning the selection with a summary of the author's trip to India thus far and then moving to a description of the Taj Mahal?

• A. The reader is not able to comprehend or appreciate the description of the Taj Mahal without this information.

• B. Given the information that comes later, the reader can decide whether the order of the author's trip makes sense.

• C. The information at the beginning helps the reader to decide whether to visit India.

• D. By starting with a summary of the trip, the author creates anticipation that encourages the reader to continue reading.

29. 29. In the last sentence of the first paragraph, what does the word indelible mean?

• A. lasting

• B. invisible

• C. forgettable

• D. fading

30. 30. What can be inferred from paragraph 6?

• A. Shah Jahan was not concerned with what things cost.

• B. Shah Jahan was a compassionate emperor.

• C. Shah Jahan was very religious.

• D. Shah Jahan made rash decisions.

31. 31. What does the author mean when he describes the Taj Mahal as "synonymous with India itself"?

• A. The building and the country once had the same name.

• B. Most buildings in India are different from the Taj Mahal.

• C. Most people readily associate the Taj Mahal with India.

• D. The Taj Mahal is the center of government in India.

32. 32. Why does the author include the sentence below from paragraph 3?

33. "The morning sun was still low in the sky, and the shiny marble reflected as a soft pink hue, giving the grounds an ethereal quality."

• A. to emphasize how tired the author was from waking up early

• B. to describe the elegant, peaceful mood of the site

• C. to compare the morning light to the author's journey

• D. to analyze the types of materials used to build the site

33. 33. What is the significance of the statement below from the last paragraph?

    1. "As I departed from the site, I was reminded of the cruel twist of Shah Jahan's fate. For from this prison, which was located across the river from the Taj Mahal, he was afforded a perfect view of the monument he had raised for his eternal love."

• A. It suggests to the reader that the author's next destination will be the prison.

• B. It explains why the prison why the prison was built so close to the Taj Mahal.

• C. It describes another way in which the story of the Taj Mahal is a tragic one.

• D. The prison was a much less comfortable place to live than the Taj Mahal.

34. 34. What is the author's purpose in writing this selection?

• A. to retell the events of the author's trip to India

• B. to describe how and why the Taj Mahal was built

• C. to persuade the readers that the Taj Mahal is the most impressive site in India

• D. to provide a history of India by describing its most famous buildings.

35. 35. How does the author unfold his ideas about the Taj Mahal?

• A. He explains in detail the different sections of the Taj Mahal, including the materials and construction methods used to build them.

• B. He addresses Shah Jahan's rule of India both before and after the construction of the site.

• C. He uses the Taj Mahal as a metaphor for all that India stands for.

• D. He parallels the story of its history with a firsthand description of someone visiting it in the present day.