Explanation
Correct answer: A.
Choice A is the best answer because it most logically completes the text’s discussion of John Cranko’s ballet adaptation of Pushkin’s Russian novel in verse, Eugene Onegin. According to the text, the novel’s lyricism—specifically its reliance on linguistic patterns and flourishes that are unique to the Russian language—renders a faithful translation, especially one into English, impossible. The text then discusses Cranko’s adaptation of Eugene Onegin into a ballet whose choreography, according to one critic, evokes aspects of the novel that were deemed untranslatable: “its commitments to rhythm, cadence, symmetry.” Given the claim that the ballet captures what would seem untranslatable, it can be inferred that Cranko’s loose adaptation of the novel into a different medium—namely, dance—may have preserved fundamental elements of the source material better than a strictly literal written translation into English or another language would have.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice B
Choice B is incorrect because the text discusses one specific ballet adaptation of Eugene Onegin and one critic’s assessment of it. The text makes no general claims about the adaptation of written works into other formats or about whether ballets are typically considered faithful adaptations of such works.
Choice C
Choice C is incorrect because the text discusses the difficulty of translating only one poetic work—Pushkin’s Russian-language novel Eugene Onegin—into English and doesn’t consider whether English generally poses challenges for translators of poetic works of various languages. Moreover, the text focuses on the challenge presented by the Russian language’s unique patterns and flourishes, not a difficulty inherent to the English language.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect because the text gives no indication of what most critics believe about Cranko’s adaptation of Eugene Onegin and instead presents the reaction of only one critic: Golden’s praise of Cranko’s ballet for capturing essential elements of the novel that have been “deemed untranslatable.” Nothing in the text suggests that most other critics would disagree with Golden’s positive view.