There is No Complete Life of Alexandre Dumas.

Reading Passage Question

There is no complete life of Alexandre Dumas. The age has not produced the intellectual athlete who can gird himself up for that labor. One of the worst books that ever was written, if it can be said to be written, is, I think, the English attempt at a biography of Dumas. Style, grammar, taste, feeling, are all bad. The author does not so much write a life as draw up an indictment. The spirit of his work is grudging, sneering, contemptuous, and pitifully peddling. The great charge is that Dumas was a humbug, that he was not the author of his own books, that his books were written by "collaborators"--above all, by M. Maquet

There is no doubt that Dumas had a regular system of collaboration, which he never concealed. But whereas Dumas could turn out books that _live_, whoever his assistants were, could any of his assistants write books that live, without Dumas? He once asked his son to help him; the younger Alexander declined. "It is worth a thousand a year, and you have only to make objections," the sire urged; but the son was not to be tempted. Some excellent novelists of to-day would be much better if they employed a friend to make objections. But, as a rule, the collaborator did much more. Dumas' method, apparently, was first to talk the subject over with his _aide-de-camp_. This is an excellent practice, as ideas are knocked out, like sparks (an elderly illustration!), by the contact of minds. Then the young man probably made researches, put a rough sketch on paper, and supplied Dumas, as it were, with his "brief." Then Dumas took the "brief" and wrote the novel. He gave it life, he gave it the spark (_l'etincelle_); and the story lived and moved

“There is no complete life of Alexandre Dumas.” - is a GMAT reading comprehension passage with answers. Candidates need a strong knowledge of English GMAT reading comprehension.

This GMAT Reading Comprehension consists of 4 comprehension questions. The GMAT Reading Comprehension questions are designed for the purpose of testing candidates’ abilities in understanding, analyzing, and applying information or concepts. Candidates can actively prepare with the help of GMAT Reading Comprehension Practice Questions.

Solution and Explanation

1. The main point of the passage is to

1. deprecate Dumas and his collaborators
2. to extol that Dumas was a touch artist in writing live-wire novels
3. to prove the futility of having critics by writers to illustrate that egoism of great writers such as Dumas
4. to describe the reverence The English literates had for French Literature
5.  to bring to light the dubiousness of English writers

2. Which of the following statements would the author of the passage not agree with except?

1. Dumas exploited youth to gain fame
2. The English authors were chivalrous when discussing foreign litterateurs
3. The English biography of Dumas is a masterpiece
4. Dumas could animate and enliven any theme from small spurts of overviews.
5. Dumas was a plagiarist and a copycat

3. What can be inferred from the last line of the passage considering the sentiments expressed in text?

1. Dumas was a dull-wit who depended upon his subordinates for developing a novel
2. His stories lacked life
3. That the author is a hard-core champion of Dumas
4. The finale and finesse created by Dumas were unlively
5. The author was equivocal on Dumas’s performance as a fictioneer

4. Which of the following expressions does the author of the text not allude to regarding the biography of Dumas written by an English author?

1. His style
2. The English author’s focus in his presentation
3. The English author’s glorification of Dumas
4. The English author’s envy and derision for Dumas
5. The observations of the author of the text about the English biography of Dumas

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