The following text is adapted from Herman Melville’s 1857 novel The Conﬁdence-Man. Humphry Davy was a prominent
British chemist and inventor.
Years ago, a grave American savant, being in London, observed at an evening party there, a certain coxcombical fellow,
as he thought, an absurd ribbon in his lapel, and full of smart [banter], whisking about to the admiration of as many as
were disposed to admire. Great was the savant’s disdain; but, chancing ere long to ﬁnd himself in a corner with the
jackanapes, got into conversation with him, when he was somewhat ill-prepared for the good sense of the jackanapes,
but was altogether thrown aback, upon subsequently being [informed that he was] no less a personage than Sir
Humphry Davy.
It portrays the thoughts of a character who is embarrassed about his own behavior.
It presents an account of a misunderstanding.
It offers a short history of how a person came to be famous.
It explains why one character dislikes another.
Choice B is the best answer. The text tells a story of a ﬁrst impression that turned out to be wrong: a serious American
savant was dismissive of a goofy-looking, wisecracking guest at a British party, and then was shocked to learn that the guest
was actually a prominent British chemist and inventor.
Choice A is incorrect. This is too strong and too narrow. Only at the very end is the savant "thrown aback" by the fact that the
man was Sir Humphry Davy—he’s not "embarrassed about his own behavior." Choice C is incorrect. This isn’t the main
purpose. The text never provides the history of how Sir Humphry Davy came to be famous. Nor does it provide any history for
the American savant. Choice D is incorrect. This is too narrow. It doesn’t include the second half of the text, where the savant
gets into a conversation with the man and then ﬁnds out that the man is Sir Humphry Davy.