Directions: Study the following information carefully and answer the question given below.
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:
In a quiet atelier overlooking the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Master Hasan prepared his reed pens—the qalam. Selected from hard, mature river reeds harvested along the Euphrates, the stems had been cured for two years in horse manure to draw out moisture and harden the woody fibers into a deep amber sheen. With a miniature ivory-handled knife, Hasan cut the nib at a precise thirty-five-degree slant, then pressed the blade gently into the tip to create a microscopic vertical slit—the shaqq. This tiny channel held ink through capillary action, regulating the flow with breathless sensitivity so that a single stroke could modulate effortlessly from a hairline whisper to a dramatic, velvety flourish.
His ink was equally artisanal, concocted from carbon soot gathered from the smoke chambers of oil lamps in the Hagia Sophia. Boiled with crushed gum arabic from Sudan, gallnuts, and distilled rosewater, the soot yielded a luminous, archival ink that would never fade or corrode the parchment. 'Calligraphy is spiritual geometry,' Hasan said, checking the alignment of an Arabic letter with the width of a diamond-shaped rhombic dot made by the pen's nib. 'The hand does not write; the breath writes. If the artisan's heart harbors vanity, anger, or haste, the ink stumbles, the fiber snags, and the sacred proportion is lost. To cut the reed pen is to prune the soul of pride.'
According to the passage, why were river reeds cured in horse manure for two years before being carved into pens?
💡 Solution & Explanation:
Correct Answer: (A)
Core Concept: Reading Comprehension — Material Preparation Details
Step-by-Step Solution:
1. Paragraph 1 explains: 'the stems had been cured for two years in horse manure to draw out moisture and harden the woody fibers into a deep amber sheen.'
2. This matches Option (A) directly.
3. Options B, C, and D fabricate reasons not found in the text.
Key Shortcut / Exam Tip: Trace exact purpose: 'draw out moisture and harden the woody fibers'.