12.Practice.Tests.for.the.SAT_2015-2016_1128p

Section 61
Practice Test Two
173
Questions 13-24 are based on the following passages.
The fo llowing passages discuss recent changes in the
way that museums in America construct their exhibits.
Passage 1 is from a 2004 article by a museum critic.
Passage 2 is adapted from a 2003 chapter by an educational
researcher.
Passage I
Modern museums are earnestly trying everything
they can to shore up declining attendance.
Somehow, there always seems to be some crisis
Line that they are valiantly struggling against-a severe
(5) funding cut or building code renovations that are
exceeding budget-and in the midst of it all, the
unappreciative public is drifting farther and farther
away. So museums do what they can to lure
the people back, and the results are occasionally
(10) wonderful and occasionally laughable.
The worst of such results occurs when some
condescending curator decides that the reason the
audience isn't pouring through the doors is that
the content is over their heads-that the history
(15) presented is too complex and political, the art is
too obscure, or the scientific explanations too
in-depth. What occurs then is a uniform dumbing
down of the exhibits. Content is explained
rather than interpreted. Text is minimized, and
(20) historically significant pieces are passed over in
favor of those more aesthetically pleasing. The
museum becomes a place where people go to look
at pretty things instead of a temple to learning and
understanding and appreciating different cultures,
(25) aesthetics, and facets of the earth. Unnecessary and
inexplicable "interactive" exhibits are introduced
in which the hapless viewer is instructed to press
various buttons for a predetermined result-the
theory apparently being that the way to engage the
(30) public is to cater to those whose attention span
does not exceed five or ten seconds.
All these efforts have given rise to the concept
of " edutainment" -a hybrid in which learning is
supposed to be accomplished without any effort
(35) at all on the part of the visitor. Displays are
constructed with an eye toward their entertainment
value, with relevant facts slipped slyly in,
as though learning were a bitter pill that must be
sugarcoated before the average museum visitor
( 40) can be induced to swallow it. But true education is
an active pursuit, not something one receives like
a piece of candy from an automated dispenser.
It requires a proactive inquiry on the part of the
visitor. The museum's job should be to inspire
(45) visitors to look deeper, not to force-feed them
pre-digested facts.
Ultimately, if a museum becomes indistinguishable
from a theme park, it has failed. Nonprofit
institutions exist because, if they did not, no for-
(50) profit institution would serve their function. The
grail of the successful curator is to identify the
missing resource-the thing not already provided
to a citizen by movies, parks, or other entertaining
commercial enterprise-and provide it. If active
(55) scholarship is missing, then by all means, supply
it, instead of shaping the museum to resemble the
successful entertainment enterprises already extant.
Passage 2
There is a particular brand of elitist, intellectual
snobbery that is currently decrying the innovations
(60) being made in museum displays nationwide. It is
the kind that believes that museums ought to be
reserved for those who already know a great deal
about the topic, whether it be eighteenth-century
engineering, the Impressionist movement, or early
(65) Paleolithic society. These people prefer museums
that house a bewildering array of artifacts that
cater to the specialized scholar, and they deride
any attempt to broaden the appeal of these exhibits
as a "dumbing down" of the museum interface.
(70) This is a mistake. To broaden the audience of a
museum's exhibit and make it accessible to a wide
range of the populace is a worthy goal-and does
not require "dumbing down" of material at all.
In fact, in an effort to help audiences appreciate
(75) the more specialized exhibits, museums are working
to "write upward" for their exhibits and to
bring those who may not have studied a particular
subject up to speed enough to appreciate and
marvel at the contents of an exhibit. New con-
(80) cepts are presented in a digestible format that does
not require condescension at all, but does present
more information than before.
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