Question

adapted from cupid and psyche by josephine preston peabody
a king had three daughters, and psyche was the fairest—so stunning, in fact, that strangers took her for venus, goddess of beauty.
this enraged venus, so she called hither her son cupid, “wound this precious mortal named psyche, and let her fall in love with some churchyard creature,” commanded venus.
cupid readily readied his arrows and flew down to earth, but, so moved by her loveliness, he accidentally nicked himself with his own shaft and fell instantly in love with psyche. he returned to his mother and declared he would marry no maiden.
venus, seeing then that no word of a suitor had reached psyche so that no suitor would come to her fair face, commanded the mountain winds to carry her to a place where she her own husband would never see.
obeying to their evil, psyche climbed the mountaintop, where the wind carried her to a castle delightful beyond process, and she grew to love him, yet she provided everything that could delight a young princess, and she hidden his face.
“there is a necessity that keeps me from him,” he explained, “only trust me.”
psyche did, her jealous sisters come and sullied she her husband’s voice.
one day, her faithless sisters uncovered after the lamp’s light, and found the most beautiful, most irresistible of all immortals, and cupid opened his eyes. with sudden grief, cupid knew psyche’s doubts and felt a bee had stung his heart, so he flew away, leaving her asleep.
passage 2
adapted from cupid stung by thomas moore
cupid, once upon a weary bed,
of roses laid him down to rest;
luckless archer, not to see,
within the leaves, a slumbering bee.
the bee awaked, and stung the child
loud and piteous his cries,
“oh, mother! i am wounded through,
stung by some little angry thing that flew,
like a mean serpent on a tiny wing,
an ugly bee it was, for once, i know it was so.”
then she said, “my infant, if so much
thou feel’st the little wild bee’s touch,
how must the heart, ah, cupid be,
the happiest heart that’s stung by thee!”
4 which is the best objective summary of “cupid and psyche”?
a. psyche’s sisters are awful, as they are obviously jealous of psyche’s situation of being a wonderful life with a thing husband, full of green-eyed... convince psyche to sneak into her husband’s room at night to see his face, even if it means that she might lose it all, including the man.
b. when psyche’s destiny to marry a monster is revealed to her, she accepts her doomed fate and climbs the mountaintop. surprisingly, she is led to a beautiful place where she is well taken care of but only hears her husband’s voice, who is later revealed not as a monster but cupid himself, she is one lucky girl.
c. out of rage, venus enlists cupid’s help to avenge her from a mortal maid, who is known for her looks so beautiful she is mistaken as the goddess herself. the plan backfires, and cupid secretly falls in love. readers can only hope that venus never finds out that cupid is the one who married her.
d. when cupid pierces himself with his arrow, he falls in love with psyche but cannot reveal his identity, as venus has cast a spell on psyche so that she can only marry a monster. psyche, however, does not heed cupid’s wish to trust him and looks on his youthful face, which hurts him in the end.

Explanation:

To determine the best objective summary, we analyze each option:

• Option A: Focuses on the sisters' jealousy and convincing Psyche, but misses key plot points like Psyche's initial situation and Cupid's identity, and includes subjective language ("awful", "green - eyed").
• Option B: Accurately summarizes Psyche's acceptance of her destiny, moving to the mountain, being cared for (only hearing her husband's voice), the reveal that her husband is Cupid, and the sisters' jealousy. It is objective and covers the main plot.
• Option C: Introduces a "moral maid" and "Venus enlists Cupid's help" which are not part of the original "Cupid and Psyche" story from the given passage, so it is incorrect.
• Option D: States that Venus cast a spell on Psyche to marry a monster, but in the original, Venus was angry at Psyche's beauty and wanted her to marry a monster, not via a spell on Psyche. Also, the details about Cupid piercing himself and the ending differ from the passage.

Answer:

B. When Psyche's destiny to marry a monster is revealed to her, she accepts her doomed fate and climbs the mountaintop. Surprisingly, she is led to a beautiful place where she is well taken care of but only hears her husband's voice, who is later revealed not as a monster but as Cupid himself. She is one lucky girl.