consider the lobster

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This passage is from “Consider the Lobster” by David Foster poor and institutionalized. Even in the harsh penal
Wallace. ©1999 by David Foster Wallace. environment of early America, some colonies had
laws against feeding lobsters to inmates more than
45 once a week because it was thought to be cruel and
For practical purposes, everyone knows what a unusual, like making people eat rats. One reason for
lobster is. As usual, though, there’s much more to their low status was how plentiful lobsters were in
know than most of us care about—it’s all a matter of old New England. “Unbelievable abundance” is how
what your interests are. Taxonomically speaking, a one source describes the situation, including
5 lobster is a marine crustacean of the family 50 accounts of Plymouth pilgrims wading out and
Homaridae, characterized by five pairs of jointed capturing all they wanted by hand, and of early
legs, the first pair terminating in large pincer-like Boston’s seashore being littered with lobsters after
claws used for subduing prey. Like many other hard storms—these latter were treated as a smelly
species of benthic carnivore, lobsters are both nuisance and ground up for fertilizer. There is also
10 hunters and scavengers. They have stalked eyes, gills 55 the fact that premodern lobster was often cooked
on their legs, and antennae. There are dozens of dead and then preserved, usually packed in salt or
different kinds worldwide, of which the relevant crude hermetic containers. Maine’s earliest lobster
species here is the Maine lobster, Homarus industry was based around a dozen such seaside
americanus. The name “lobster” comes from the Old canneries in the 1840s, from which lobster was
15 English loppestre, which is thought to be a corrupt 60 shipped as far away as California, in demand only
form of the Latin word for locust combined with the because it was cheap and high in protein, basically
Old English loppe, which meant spider. chewable fuel.
Moreover, a crustacean is an aquatic arthropod of Now, of course, lobster is posh, a delicacy, only a
the class Crustacea, which comprises crabs, shrimp, step or two down from caviar. The meat is richer
20 barnacles, lobsters, and freshwater crayfish. All this 65 and more substantial than most fish, its taste subtle
is right there in the encyclopedia. And an arthropod compared to the marine-gaminess of mussels and
is an invertebrate member of the phylum clams. In the U.S. pop-food imagination, lobster is
Arthropoda, which phylum covers insects, spiders, now the seafood analog to steak, with which it’s so
crustaceans, and centipedes/millipedes, all of whose often twinned as Surf ’n’ Turf on the really expensive
25 main commonality, besides the absence of a 70 part of the chain steak house menu.
centralized brain-spine assembly, is a chitinous Lobster is essentially a summer food. This is
exoskeleton composed of segments, to which because we now prefer our lobsters fresh, which
appendages are articulated in pairs. means they have to be recently caught, which for
Lobsters are basically giant sea-insects. Like most both tactical and economic reasons takes place at
30 arthropods, they date from the Jurassic period, 75 depths of less than 25 fathoms. Lobsters tend to be
biologically so much older than mammalia that they hungriest and most active (i.e., most trappable) at
might as well be from another planet. And they are summer water temperatures of 45–50°F. In the
—particularly in their natural brown-green state, autumn, some Maine lobsters migrate out into
brandishing their claws like weapons and with thick deeper water, either for warmth or to avoid the
35 antennae awhip—not nice to look at. And it’s true 80 heavy waves that pound New England’s coast all
that they are garbagemen of the sea, eaters of dead winter. Some burrow into the bottom. They might
stuff, although they’ll also eat some live shellfish, hibernate; nobody’s sure. Summer is also lobsters’
certain kinds of injured fish, and sometimes each molting season—specifically early- to mid-July.
other. Chitinous arthropods grow by molting, rather the
40 But they are themselves good eating. Or so we 85 way people have to buy bigger clothes as they age
think now. Up until sometime in the 1800s, though, and gain weight. Since lobsters can live to be over
lobster was literally low-class food, eaten only by the 100, they can also get to be quite large, as in 20

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 pounds or more—though truly senior lobsters are 1
rare now, because New England’s waters are so
heavily trapped. Anyway, hence the culinary The main purpose of the last paragraph is to
90 distinction between hard-shell and soft-shell A) describe a sequence of events
lobsters, the latter sometimes called shedders. A
B) elaborate on a procedure
soft-shell lobster is one that has recently molted. In
midcoast restaurants, the summer menu often offers C) analyze a methodology
both kinds, with shedders being slightly cheaper D) provide context for a process
95 even though they’re easier to dismantle and the meat
is allegedly sweeter. The reason for the discount is
that a molting lobster uses a layer of seawater for
insulation while its new shell is hardening, so there’s 2
slightly less actual meat when you crack open a According to the passage, when compared to soft-shell
100 shedder, plus a redolent gout of water that gets all lobsters, hard-shell lobsters
over everything and can sometimes jet out lemon-
like and catch a tablemate right in the eye. If it’s A) Are most frequently sold in the winter.
winter or you’re buying lobster someplace far from B) Have slightly less meat.
New England, on the other hand, you can almost bet C) Have longer molting seasons.
105 that the lobster is a hard-shell, which for obvious
reasons travel better. D) Are more easily transported.
As an à la carte entrée, lobster can be baked,
broiled, steamed, grilled, sautéed, stir-fried, or
microwaved. The most common method, though, is 3
110 boiling. If you’re someone who enjoys having lobster
at home, this is probably the way you do it, since It can be inferred from the passage that
boiling is so easy. You need a large kettle with cover, A) The population of elderly lobsters was higher in the
which you fill about half full with water (the 18th century than in the 20th century.
standard advice is that you want 2.5 quarts of water
B) Summer foods tend to have an element of
115 per lobster). Seawater is optimal, or you can add two
“freshness.”
tbsp salt per quart from the tap. It also helps to know
how much your lobsters weigh. You get the water C) Lobster and caviar hold equal standing in culinary
boiling, put in the lobsters one at a time, cover the elitism.
kettle, and bring it back to a boil. Then you bank the D) Lobsters’ molting season lasts from early summer to
120 heat and let the kettle simmer—ten minutes for the late summer.
first pound of lobster, then three minutes for each
pound after that. This is assuming you’ve got hard-
shell lobsters, which, again, if you don’t live between
Boston and Halifax, is probably what you’ve got. For 4
125 shedders, you’re supposed to subtract three minutes It can be inferred from the passage that to suffocate a
from the total. The reason the kettle’s lobsters turn lobster, one should
scarlet is that boiling somehow suppresses every
pigment in their chitin but one. If you want an easy A) remove the lobster’s legs.
test of whether the lobsters are done, you try pulling B) remove the lobster’s head.
130 on one of their antennae—if it comes out of the head C) remove the lobster’s antennae.
with minimal effort, you’re ready to eat.
D) remove the lobster’s pincers.

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 5
As it is used in line 28, the word “articulated” most
nearly means
A) expressed
B) stated
C) communicated
D) described

6
How much time does the author recommend for
cooking a 4 pound soft-shell lobster?
A) 12 minutes
B) 16 minutes
C) 19 minutes
D) 22 minutes

7
Based on the passage, a potential consequence of
removing lobsters from the ecosystem is
A) Increased waste products in aquatic environments.
B) Increased regulations against lobster farming.
C) Increased prices at seafood restaurants.
D) Increased proportion of hard-shell to soft-shell
lobsters.

8
As it is used in line 119, the word “bank” most nearly
means
A) restrict
B) soften
C) magnify
D) rest

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