January 2008 SAT
Passage:
Nowadays, a hundred years after Mathew Arnold, we are fond of literal translation; in fact, many of us accept only literal translations because we want to give the original authors their due. That attitude would have seemed a [crime] to [European translators] in ages past. They were thinking of something far worthier than the individual person. They wanted to prove that the vernacular, the language of their contemporaries, was as capable of a great poem as the ancient language in which the original poem was composed.
The "European translators" might argue that those guilty of the "crime" are likely to
A) force ancient ideas into a modern mold
B) encourage literary accomplishment while neglecting traditional scholarship
C) insist that ancient poems be read only in their original language
D) treat authors with excessive reverence
E) pursue commercial success rather than artistic excellence
This is a hard one. First, we have to understand that the “crime” is “literal translation.” The passage says “many of us accept only literal translations because we want to give the original authors their due”–in other words, we want to give the authors their proper credit.
Next, we have to see what the “European translators” value. The passage says they “were thinking of something far worthier than the individual person. They wanted to prove that the vernacular, the language of their contemporaries, was as capable of a great poem as the ancient language in which the original poem was composed”–in other words, they don’t care much about the author; they care about proving the beauty of their modern language.
Because they don’t care much about the original authors, it’s reasonable that they’d say anyone who prioritizes the original authors’ “due” is too respectful towards those authors, too “reverent.”
This is actually a LOT easier than it appears. Again, the answer to such question has to be directly supported by the passage.
Let’s look at the proposed answers:
A) force ancient ideas into a modern mold … There isn’t a single mention of any of this in the passage.
B ) encourage literary accomplishment while neglecting traditional scholarship … Again, there isn’t a single mention of any of this in the passage.
C) insist that ancient poems be read only in their original language … There isn’t a single mention of any of this in the passage, and a passage about the role of translators directly contradicts (see above)
D) treat authors with excessive reverence … Well, well, what do we have here? This is the first time a word such as author is present. Could it be in contradiction? Nope, it is in direct support of what a “crime” might have been. And the word is even … repeated. Thank you, ETS writer for phoning it in!
E) pursue commercial success rather than artistic excellence … There isn’t a single mention of any of this in the passage. No commercial success of excellence mentioned.
So you have it. The answer D is directly supported by the text, and none of the others comes close. Even if one could not be sure about the answer D, the remaining four answers were easy POE targets.
As always, it is a lot simpler when one sticks to the direct clues, and does not overthink the process.