The Mended Thing
Written by Studio AM.
Your result
- Words per minute
- Score
- Pace
Words per minute mean something only with the score beside them. They describe this passage on this read. With fewer than 3 right, try the next slower pace.
Choose a pace and select Start. The passage is paced and timed, then the questions check what you understood. How pace mode works
Reading time 0:00
When something breaks, a common reflex is to replace it. A torn coat may be cheap to replace, while a repair requires tools or skills we do not have. That can make replacement convenient. Yet we sometimes discard an object before finding out whether a simple repair would work.
Yet a mended thing carries something a new one cannot. The Japanese art of kintsugi repairs broken pottery with lacquer and powdered gold, refusing to hide the damage and instead treating the repair as part of the design. The cup is not returned to what it was; it becomes something else, a record of having been broken and cared for. The repair is visible on purpose.
This gives us another way to value an object. A flawless surface is not its only appealing feature. But an object that has been kept, fixed, and kept again holds a history that a perfect replacement does not share. Its value is not in spite of the damage but partly because of it.
I think that possibility is worth considering, and not only for objects. A routine or a plan that no longer works might need adjustment rather than complete replacement. The question is not whether everything must be saved, but whether we have considered what a repair could preserve.
The passage is hidden while you answer. It comes back with your result.
Questions
Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.
-
Question 1 of 4
What is the essay mainly arguing?
The answer is A: A repair can preserve useful history and add value worth considering.
The writer uses a visibly repaired pot to argue that history can contribute to value, then extends the idea to adjusting routines and plans.
-
Question 2 of 4
What does kintsugi use to repair broken pottery?
The answer is A: Lacquer and powdered gold
The passage names lacquer and powdered gold. The lacquer joins the pottery; gold makes the repair visible.
-
Question 3 of 4
The final paragraph extends the idea to suggest that:
The answer is A: Routines and plans may benefit from adjustment rather than replacement.
The final paragraph explicitly applies the idea of repair to routines and plans that may need adjustment.
-
Question 4 of 4
What does 'reflex' mean in this passage?
The answer is A: an automatic, habitual response
The writer describes an immediate habit of replacing a broken thing before considering repair.
Score: none answered yet.