Question

In the passage, the word ‘fossil’ can be interpreted as

• A. an analogy from the physical world to indicate the passing of an era associated with an art movement.
• B. an analogy from the physical world to indicate a historic art movement.
• C. an analogy from the physical world to indicate the barrenness of artistic creations in the past.
• D. an embedded codification of pre-historic life.
• E. an art movement that has ceased to remain interesting or useful.

Hint:

Read the sentence “As an art movement slips into temporal perspective, it ceases to be a living organism – becoming, rather, a fossil” and the line that follows.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Read the context.
The passage says: “As an art movement slips into temporal perspective, it ceases to be a living organism - becoming, rather, a fossil. This is not to say that it becomes useless or uninteresting.” So “fossil” is a comparison taken from the natural world, used for an art movement that is no longer alive because its time has passed.

Step 2: Check the options.
(5) The passage specifically says the movement does not become useless or uninteresting, so this is wrong.
(3) Nothing suggests that past art is barren; the author says the past still gives “webs of intellectual and creative possibility”.
(4) A fossil here is figurative; the passage is not about prehistoric life itself.
(2) and (1) both say the word is an analogy from the physical world. Option (2) only says it points to a historic art movement. Option (1) says more precisely what the analogy shows: the period connected with the movement has passed, and what remains is a recorded structure. This follows from “slips into temporal perspective… ceases to be a living organism”.

Final Answer:
The correct option is (1): an analogy from the physical world to indicate the passing of an era associated with an art movement.