SSAT Reading Question 258: Answer and Explanation
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Question: 258
5. The author is likely to agree with which of the following statements?
I. Glory is a fleeting thing.
II. It is best to die at the peak of one's fame.
III. An athlete's fame lives on even after retirement.
- A. I only
- B. II only
- C. III only
- D. I and II only
Correct Answer: D
Explanation:
D is correct. Lines 11-12 ("And early though the laurel grows/It withers quicker than the rose") express the poet’s belief that, although the athlete’s glory came early, it will not last. In other words, glory withers and dies as quickly as a rose, and statement I is correct. Statement II is confirmed by lines 9-10 ("Smart lad, to slip betimes away/From fields where glory does not stay") as well as lines 17-20 ("Now you will not swell the rout/Of lads that wore their honors out/Runners whom renown outran/And the name died before the man."). Nothing in the poem supports statement III.