Cracking The SAT Premium

D Passage 2 begins with the first paragraph describing ways that the particular piece of art in
question is unusual in the world of classical Greek art: It shows deities attending a festival,
including Athena, and they are ignoring the peplos. This represents a flagrant breach with
tradition that requires explanation. Paragraph 2 continues with an explanation of what it
cannot represent. Since the author does not say that the frieze cannot depict the Panathenaic
procession, (A) is incorrect. The author also does not discuss the passage of time, so (B) is
incorrect. While the author goes on to describe the heroes of Marathon, the question is
asking about the purpose of the first two paragraphs, so (C) is a tempting trap answer but
must be eliminated. Choice (D) comes the closest to what the author is doing in the first two
paragraphs, describing problems in the traditional interpretation of the frieze.

A Paragraph 2 begins by discussing what a classical Athenian, or resident of Athens, would
not have thought as he looked at the frieze, that is, that it was a representation of himself. In
the second sentence, mortal could be replaced by classical Athenian, because the subject
must be something greater than a resident of Athens. Therefore, (B), (C), and (D) do not fit,
and (A) is the correct answer.

B Paragraph 2 begins by discussing what a classical Athenian, or resident of Athens, would
not have thought as he looked at the frieze: “there I go” or even more vaguely “there we
go.” The next sentence tells us that the subject of the frieze must be more than mortal, or
more than about the classical Athenian looking at it. Putting these together, we can surmise
that when the author says that the classical Athenian wouldn’t say “there I go,” he means
that the frieze is not about the classical Athenian. Paragraph 3 confirms this idea by saying
we must rule out...that it is a contemporary or generic statement of the Panathenaic
procession conducted by the citizens.... Since there was never a discussion of the figures
themselves and whether they represented individual citizens, (A) is incorrect. Choice (B)
does match pretty closely, so keep it. Choice (C) has more to do with who participated in
the procession rather than the subject of the frieze, so eliminate (C). Choice (D) goes too
far because the author never says that the subject of the frieze should be obvious to modern
viewers. Choice (B) is the correct answer.

D Think about the evidence in the passage that helped you answer the previous question:
Support for (B) in question 7 comes from paragraph 2 and paragraph 3, so (A) and (B) can
be eliminated. While it may be true that the explanation must have been apparent to the
classical Athenian who knew this background, this does not support the idea that the frieze
cannot represent a human event, so eliminate (C). Choice (D) directly supports (B) in
question 27, and is therefore the correct answer.

B The author of Passage 2 proposes that the frieze shows the fighters of Marathon
celebrating the prime festival of the goddess Athena...as a thanksgiving for her aid at
Marathon and afterwards. This ties into (B), Athenian men who died in battle at
Marathon. There is no indication that the author believes the youths were from around the
time the Parthenon was built, so eliminate (A). Choice (C) is too broad because it
includes all people of Marathon who were worshipped as heroes, whereas the author
specifies the fighters of Marathon, so eliminate (C). Choice (D) contradicts the author’s
description that the frieze is a representation of the fighters, not purely divine participants,