501 Critical Reading Questions

(Sean Pound) #1
another to suggest a similarity between the two, this figure of
speech is called a metaphor(choice e). If the boy had instead said,
Nigel’s smile was “likea graveyard of yellow sincerity,” it would
have been a simile, choice b.


  1. a. Both passages are basically concerned with a similar situation—
    life aboard a cutter. The author of Passage 1 sets a pleasurable
    tone in the first paragraph by describing the idyllic scene at Ply-
    mouth and the anchored yacht. He later describes the yacht as
    elegant, tasteful, and luxurious(line 18), and the smell of the food
    delightful(lines 23–24). In stark contrast, the boy narrator in
    Passage 2 begins the passage by describing the menacing façade
    of his uncle and the immediate reality check the boy receives
    when he steps aboard (lines 6–9). His description of the heat
    and smell below deck (lines 20–22), and the horrible food (lines
    33–35), effectively sets the dark and oppressive tone of the pas-
    sage. Together, these two very different descriptions prove that
    the reality of two seemingly similar situations can often be extremely
    different, choice a.

  2. b.The word berth,when used as a noun, often refers to the sleep-
    ing quarters aboard a boat or a train. In lines 39–43 the boy
    describes his berth as the place where he could stow [his] clothes,
    and at night string up [his] hammock.

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