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Reading Comprehension Test 27

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Reading Comprehension Test 27
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  • Question 1
    1 / -0

    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]
    For this question, consider how the passage might be revised to improve the expression of the idea or to correct the errors in sentence structure, usage, or punctuation.
    [/passage-header]

       A river dam needs reinforcement. A nuclear reactor dome at a power plant needs to be repositioned.

       [1] Steel tubes are being cut by a gas torch as needed by a construction company. What do these tasks have in common? They are all responsibilities of Boilermakers. Boilers are large containers for liquids such as water, chemicals, and oil, or for gases such as steam and methane, and are used to create power and heat. Boilermakers build, install, and fix boilers, as well as forging and welding other metal products. The work of Boilermakers can be found just about everywhere in industrialized countries: furnaces provide heat during cold weather to many homes and business, power plant facilities generate energy for cities and towns, and [2] other technical sites are responsible for additional services. Many of these structures require continual repairs to address [3] stress fractures, leaks, and a corroded part.
       [4] (1) Most students learn the trade through a four-year apprenticeship with experienced boilermakers.(2) Compared to liberal arts universities or colleges, [5] boilermakers receive more specialized, vocational training. (3) Students gain practical experience and hands-on knowledge through working on projects with advanced professionals, as well as putting in a minimum of 144 classroom hours per year.(4) In class, students learn about the physical and chemical properties of the liquids and gases with which they will be working. (5) Once they are prepared to join the workforce, they can join the Boilermakers' union, which [6] create supportive local communities and advocates for the rights and welfare of all its members. (6) Local unions foster the development of young Boilermakers by sponsoring many of the aforementioned apprenticeships. [7] 
       [8] Thus, boilermaking is not for those [9] adverse to physical activity. Boilermakers work with their hands just about every day and are often outside.
       [10] As large as 750,000 gallons and requiring tall ladders to access, at times boilermakers construct and repair structures at extreme heights. Physical strength is [11] super important for Boilermakers, as they load and unload heavy materials, assemble scaffolding, and erect steel support beams. They must be comfortable enough working in these environments to calmly and critically assess the conditions of their structures, discern what must be done in each individual circumstance, and make a plan to accomplish their goals. For people who like to move around and use their hands as well as their intellect, boiler making can present an excellent opportunity for active, thoughtful work.

    ...view full instructions

    Which choice most effectively establishes the main topic of the paragraph [4]?
    Solution
    Paragraph 4 of the given passage tells how students learn the trade with experienced boilermakers and also look forward to develop strong community ties. Thus option A is the correct answer. Options B,C,D are incorrect.
  • Question 2
    1 / -0

    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]   Everybody at all addicted to letter writing, without having much to say, which will include a large proportion of the female world at least, must feel with Lady Bertram, that she was out of luck in having such a capital piece of Mansfield news, as the certainty of the Grants going to bath, occur at a time when she 18114could make no advantage of it, and will admit that it must have been very mortifying to her to see it fall to the share of their thankless son, and treated as concisely as possible at the end of a long letter, instead of having it to spread over the largest part of a page of her own. For though Lady Bertram, rather at home in the epistolary line, having early in her marriage, from the 68982want of other employment, and the circumstance of Sir Thomas's being in the Parliament, got into the way of making and keeping correspondents, and formed for herself a very creditable, commonplace, 72489amplifying style, so that a very little matter was enough for her; she could not do entirely without any; she must have something to write about, 42326even of her niece, and being so soon to loose all the 18247benefits of Dr. Giant's gouty symptoms and, Mrs. Grant's morning calls, it was very hard upon her to be deprived of one of the last epistolary uses she could put them to.
       There were a rich amends, however, preparing for her. Lady Bertram's hour of good luck came. Within a few days from the receipt of Edmund's letter, Fanny had one from her aunt, beginning thus:
       "My dear Fanny, I take up my pen to communicate some very alarming intelligence, which I make no doubt will give you much concern."
    [passage-footer]
    [/passage-footer]

    ...view full instructions

    Fill in the blank with a suitable option:
    The "amplifying style" (line 72489) is one in which _________.
    Solution
    The narrator expresses that little matter was enough for Lady Bertram, which implies that she stretched little bits of information to seem more important. Thus, option B is the correct answer. The statements of options A,C,D and E are not supported by the passage. Hence, they are all incorrect in this context. 
  • Question 3
    1 / -0

    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]   Everybody at all addicted to letter writing, without having much to say, which will include a large proportion of the female world at least, must feel with Lady Bertram, that she was out of luck in having such a capital piece of Mansfield news, as the certainty of the Grants going to bath, occur at a time when she 18114could make no advantage of it, and will admit that it must have been very mortifying to her to see it fall to the share of their thankless son, and treated as concisely as possible at the end of a long letter, instead of having it to spread over the largest part of a page of her own. For though Lady Bertram, rather at home in the epistolary line, having early in her marriage, from the 68982want of other employment, and the circumstance of Sir Thomas's being in the Parliament, got into the way of making and keeping correspondents, and formed for herself a very creditable, commonplace, 72489amplifying style, so that a very little matter was enough for her; she could not do entirely without any; she must have something to write about, 42326even of her niece, and being so soon to loose all the 18247benefits of Dr. Giant's gouty symptoms and, Mrs. Grant's morning calls, it was very hard upon her to be deprived of one of the last epistolary uses she could put them to.
       There were a rich amends, however, preparing for her. Lady Bertram's hour of good luck came. Within a few days from the receipt of Edmund's letter, Fanny had one from her aunt, beginning thus:
       "My dear Fanny, I take up my pen to communicate some very alarming intelligence, which I make no doubt will give you much concern."
    [passage-footer]
    [/passage-footer]

    ...view full instructions

    The last sentence serves to illustrate which of the following about Lady Bertram?
    Solution
    Option A is the correct answer. Lady Bertram writes to her niece saying that she has news, indicates that she has new content to write about. Whether she is spreading anything malicious or her considerations about her content or her niece's feelings is not explicit. But what is sure is her new found piece of news. Therefore, options B,C,D and E are incorrect. 
  • Question 4
    1 / -0

    Directions For Questions

    A Life in Traffic

    A subway system is expanded to provide service to a growing suburb. A bike-sharing program is adopted to encourage nonmotorized transportation. [1] To alleviate rush hour traffic jams in a congested downtown area, stoplight timing is coordinated. When any one of these changes [2] occur, it is likely the result of careful analysis conducted by transportation planners.

    The work of transportation planners generally includes evaluating current transportation needs, assessing the effectiveness of existing facilities, and improving those facilities or [3] they design new ones. Most transportation planners work in or near cities, [4] but some are employed in rural areas. Say, for example, a large factory is built on the outskirts of a small town. Traffic to and from that location would increase at the beginning and end of work shifts. The transportation [5] planner's job, might involve conducting a traffic count to determine the daily number of vehicles travelling on the road to the new factory. If analysis of the traffic count indicates that there is more traffic than the [6] current road as it is designed at this time can efficiently accommodate, the transportation planner might recommend widening the road to add another lane.

    Transportation planners work closely with a number of community stakeholders, such as government officials and other interested organizations and individuals. [7] Next, representatives from the local public health department might provide input in designing a network of trails and sidewalks to encourage people to walk more. [8] According to the American Heart Association, walking provides numerous benefits related to health and well-being. Members of the Chamber of Commerce might share suggestions about designing transportation and parking facilities to support local businesses.

    [9] People who pursue careers in transportation planning have a wide variety of educational backgrounds. A two-year degree in transportation technology may be sufficient for some entry-level jobs in the field. Most jobs, however, require at least a bachelor's degree; majors of transportation planners are [10] varied, including fields such as urban studies, civil engineering, geography, or transportation and logistics management. For many positions in the field, a master's degree is required.

    Transportation planners perform critical work within the broader field of urban and regional planning. As of 2010, there were approximately 40,300 urban and regional planners employed in the United States. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts steady job growth in this field, [11] projecting that 16 percent of new jobs in all occupations will be related to urban and regional planning. Population growth and concerns about environmental sustainability are expected to spur the need for transportation planning professionals.  

    ...view full instructions

    Which choice completes the sentence with accurate data based on the graph? [11]

    Solution
    Option C is the correct answer because it completes the sentence with an accurate interpretation of data in the graph. The graph displays projections of how much growth in employment there is expected to be between 2010 and 2020 for “social scientists and related workers,” for “urban and regional planners,” and in “all occupations” in the U.S. economy. According to the graph, the employment of urban and regional planners is expected to increase 16 percent between 2010 and 2020.
    Option A, "no change" is incorrect because the data in the graph do not support the claim that 16 percent of new jobs in all occupations will be related to urban and regional planning. 
    Options B and D are incorrect because these statements are not supported by the graph.
  • Question 5
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    Directions For Questions

    Dong Kingman: Painter of Cities 

    A 1954 documentary about renowned watercolour painter Dong Kingman shows the artist sitting on a stool on Mott Street in New York City's Chinatown. A crowd of admiring spectators [12] watched as Kingman squeezes dollops of paint from several tubes into a tin watercolour [13] box, from just a few primary colours, Kingman creates dozens of beautiful hues as he layers the translucent paint onto the paper on his easel. Each stroke of the brush and dab of the sponge transforms thinly sketched outlines into buildings, shop signs, and streetlamps. The street scene Kingman begins composing in this short film is very much in keeping with the urban landscapes for which he is best known.

    [1] Kingman was keenly interested in landscape painting from an early age. [2] In Hong Kong, where Kingman completed his schooling, teachers at that time customarily assigned students a formal "school name". [3] His interest was so keen, in fact, that he was named after it. [4] The young boy who had been Dong Moy Shu became Dong Kingman. [5] The name Kingman was selected for its two [14] parts, "king" and "man"; Cantonese for "scenery" and "composition." [6] As Kingman developed as a painter, his works were often compared to [15] paintings by Chinese landscape artists dating back to CE 960, a time when a strong tradition of landscape painting emerged in Chinese art. [7] Kingman, however, [16] vacated from that tradition in a number of ways, most notably in that he chose to focus not on natural landscapes, such as mountains and rivers, but on cities. 

    [18] His fine brushwork conveys detailed street-level activity: a peanut vendor pushing his cart on the sidewalk, a pigeon pecking for crumbs around a fire [19] hydrant, an old man tending to a baby outside a doorway. His broader brush strokes and sponge-painted shapes create majestic city skylines, with skyscrapers towering in the background, bridges connecting neighbourhoods on either side of a river, and [20] delicately painted creatures, such as a tiny, barely visible cat prowling in the bushes of a park. To art critics and fans alike, these city scenes represent the innovative spirit of twentieth-century urban Modernism.

    During his career, Kingman exhibited his work [21] internationally. He garnered much acclaim. In 1936, a critic described one of Kingman's solo exhibits as "twenty of the freshest, most satisfying watercolours that have been seen hereabouts in many a day." 

    ...view full instructions

    Which choice most effectively establishes the main topic of the paragraph starting with line [18]?
    Solution
    Option C is the correct answer because the mentioned paragraph specifically talks about how Kingman loved to paint the city or urban landscapes. Thus it clearly establishes the main topic of the paragraph: Kingman’s urban landscapes.
    Options A, B and D are incorrect simply because these information are not supported by the mentioned paragraph. 
  • Question 6
    1 / -0

    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows:[/passage-header]   Everybody at all addicted to letter writing, without having much to say, which will include a large proportion of the female world at least, must feel with Lady Bertram, that she was out of luck in having such a capital piece of Mansfield news, as the certainty of the Grants going to bath, occur at a time when she 18114could make no advantage of it, and will admit that it must have been very mortifying to her to see it fall to the share of their thankless son, and treated as concisely as possible at the end of a long letter, instead of having it to spread over the largest part of a page of her own. For though Lady Bertram, rather at home in the epistolary line, having early in her marriage, from the 68982want of other employment, and the circumstance of Sir Thomas's being in the Parliament, got into the way of making and keeping correspondents, and formed for herself a very creditable, commonplace, 72489amplifying style, so that a very little matter was enough for her; she could not do entirely without any; she must have something to write about, 42326even of her niece, and being so soon to loose all the 18247benefits of Dr. Giant's gouty symptoms and, Mrs. Grant's morning calls, it was very hard upon her to be deprived of one of the last epistolary uses she could put them to.
       There were a rich amends, however, preparing for her. Lady Bertram's hour of good luck came. Within a few days from the receipt of Edmund's letter, Fanny had one from her aunt, beginning thus:
       "My dear Fanny, I take up my pen to communicate some very alarming intelligence, which I make no doubt will give you much concern."
    [passage-footer]
    [/passage-footer]

    ...view full instructions

    What is the "benefit" referred to in line 18247?
    Solution
    Option E is the correct answer. The benefits that Lady Bertram got from her surroundings were news to write about for she craved for epistolary opportunities. The statements of options A,B,C and D are incorrect for they are not supported by the text. 
  • Question 7
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    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]The following is adapted from E.M. Forster's A Room With a View, originally published in 1908.[/passage-header]

    58972A few days after the engagement little garden-party in the neighbourhood, for naturally she wanted to show people that her daughter was marrying a presentable man.30946

    97799Cecil was more than presentable; he looked distinguished, and it was very pleasant to see his slim figure keeping step with Lucy, and his long, fair face responding when Lucy spoke to him. 89585People congratulated Mrs. Honeychurch, which is, I believe, a social blunder, but it pleased her, and she introduced Cecil rather indiscriminately to some stuffy dowagers.45912

    At tea a misfortune took place: a cup of coffee was upset over Lucy's figured silk, and though Lucy feigned indifference, her mother feigned nothing of the sort but dragged her indoors to have the frock treated by a sympathetic maid. 78510They were gone some time, and Cecil was left with the dowagers.15156 When they returned he was not as pleasant as he had been.

    "Do you go to much of this sort of thing?" he asked when they were driving home.

    "Oh, now and then," said Lucy, who had rather enjoyed herself.

    "Is it typical of country society?"

    "I suppose so. Mother, would it be?"

    60238"Plenty of society," said Mrs. Honeychurch, who was trying to remember the hang of one of the dresses.40756

    Seeing that her thoughts were elsewhere, Cecil bent towards Lucy and said:

    "To me it seemed perfectly appalling, disastrous65016, portentous."

    "I am so sorry that you were stranded."

    "Not that, but the congratulations. It is so disgusting, the way an engagement is regarded as public property--a kind of waste place where every outsider may shoot his vulgar 43590sentiment. All those old women smirking!"

    "One has to go through it, I suppose. They won't notice us so much next time."

    "But my point is that their whole attitude is wrong.67899 An engagement--horrid word in the first place--is a private matter, and should be treated as such."47601

    Yet the smirking old women, however wrong individually, were racially correct. The spirit of the generations had smiled through them, rejoicing in the engagement of Cecil and Lucy because it promised the continuance of life on earth. To Cecil and Lucy it promised something quite different--personal love. Hence Cecil's irritation and Lucy's belief that his irritation was just.

    "How tiresome!" she said. "Couldn't you have escaped to tennis?"

    "I don't play tennis--at least, not in public. 84924The neighbourhood is deprived of the romance of me being athletic.20976 Such romance as I have is that of the Inglese Italianato."

    "Inglese Italianato?"

    "E un diavolo incarnato! You know the proverb?"

    She did not. Nor did it seem applicable to a young man who had spent a quiet winter in Rome with his mother. But Cecil, since his engagement, had taken to affect51078 a cosmopolitan naughtiness which he was far from possessing.

    "Well," said he, "I cannot help it if they do disapprove of me. 30881There are certain irremovable barriers between myself and them, and I must accept them."67488

    "We all have our limitations, I suppose," said wise Lucy.

    "Sometimes they are forced on us, though," said Cecil, who saw from her remark that she did not quite understand his position.

    "How?"

    84803"It makes a difference doesn't it, whether we fully fence ourselves in, or whether we are fenced out by the barriers of others?"73746

    She thought a moment and agreed that it did make a difference.

    "Difference?" cried Mrs. Honeychurch, suddenly alert. "I don't see anydifference. Fences are fences, especially when they are in the same place."

    "We were speaking of motives," said Cecil, on whom the interruption jarred.

    52521"My dear Cecil, look here." She spread out her knees and perched her card-case on her lap. "This is me. That's Windy Corner. The rest of the pattern is the other people. 19102Motives are all very well, but the fence comes here."98842

    "We weren't talking of real fences," said Lucy, laughing.

    "Oh, I see, dear--poetry."91572

    ...view full instructions

    It can reasonably be inferred from the passage that Mrs.Honeychurch is ___________.
    Solution
    The correct answer is option C. The passage states that Mrs. Honeychurch “wanted to show people that her daughter was marrying a presentable man” (lines 3−4), indicating that she wants to show her neighbors that her daughter has made a respectable match. Furthermore, “it pleased her” (line 6) to be congratulated on this match; she likes feeling the approval of others. Together these reactions suggest that she is concerned with presenting an impressive image in her society. 
    Although Mrs. Honeychurch has positive feelings about her daughter’s engagement to Cecil, the passage does not give any indication that she “thoroughly enjoys” his company; thus, (A) is incorrect. 
    Although the passage refers briefly to Mrs. Honeychurch thinking back on a dress, there is no specific indication that she sews dresses or anything else particularly well; hence, (B) is incorrect. 
    Option D is incorrect because Mrs. Honeychurch is the one who insists on their attendance at the garden-party (lines 1−3), so she is the opposite of disinterested in it.
  • Question 8
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    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]Enter LORD MAYOR (Sir Roger Otley) and EARL OF LINCOLN.[/passage-header]LINC: My Lord Mayor, you have 87763sundry times
    Feasted myself, and many courtiers more; 
    Seldom or never can we be so kind 
    To make requital of your courtesy.
    But, leaving this, I hear my cousin Lacy 
    Is much 84547affected to your daughter Rose.
    L.MAYOR: True, my good Lord, and she loves him so well
    That I mislike her boldness in the chase.

    LINC: Why, my Lord Mayor, think you it then a shame
    To join a Lacy with an Otley's name?
    L.MAYOR: Too mean is my 32392poor girl for his 32127high birth;
    Poor citizens must not with courtiers wed,
    who will in silks and gay apparel spend
    More in one year than I am worth by far;
    Therefore your honour need not doubt my girl.

    LINC: Take heed, my Lord, advise you what you do;
    A verier 76939unthrift lives not in the world
    Than is my cousin; for I'll tell you what,
    'Tis now almost a year since he requested
    To travel countries for experience;
    I furnish'd him with coin, bills of exchange,
    Letters of credit, men to wait on him,
    Solicited my friends in Italy
    Well to respect him; but to see the end:
    Scant had he journey'd through half Germany,
    But all his coin was spent, his men cast off,
    His bills embezzl'd, and my 60876jolly coz
    Asham'd to show his bankrupt presence here,
    Became a shoemaker in Wittenberg.
    54336A goodly science for a gentleman
    of such descent!20899 Now judge rest by this:
    Suppose your daughter have a thousand pound,
    He did consume me more in one half - year;
    And make him heir to all the wealth you have,
    One twelvemonth's rioting will waste it all.
    Then seek, my Lord, some honest citizen
    To wed your daughter to.
    L.MAYOR: I thank your Lordship.
    (Aside.) 50779Well, fox, I understand your subtlety.-
    As for your nephew, let your lordship's eye
    But watch his actions, and you need not fear
    For I have sent my daughter far enough.
    And yet your cousin Rowland might do well
    Now he hath learn'd an occupation;
    (Aside.) And yet I scorn to call him son - in - law.

    LINC: Ay, but I have a better trade for him;
    I thank His Grace he hath appointed him
    Chief colonel of all those companies
    Muster'd in London and the shires about
    to serve His Highness in those 24190wars of France.
    See where he comes.
    [passage-footer]
    [/passage-footer]

    ...view full instructions

    The Earl of Lincoln's attitude toward his cousin can best be described as __________.
  • Question 9
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    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]Enter LORD MAYOR (Sir Roger Otley) and EARL OF LINCOLN.[/passage-header]LINC: My Lord Mayor, you have 87763sundry times
    Feasted myself, and many courtiers more; 
    Seldom or never can we be so kind 
    To make requital of your courtesy.
    But, leaving this, I hear my cousin Lacy 
    Is much 84547affected to your daughter Rose.
    L.MAYOR: True, my good Lord, and she loves him so well
    That I mislike her boldness in the chase.

    LINC: Why, my Lord Mayor, think you it then a shame
    To join a Lacy with an Otley's name?
    L.MAYOR: Too mean is my 32392poor girl for his 32127high birth;
    Poor citizens must not with courtiers wed,
    who will in silks and gay apparel spend
    More in one year than I am worth by far;
    Therefore your honour need not doubt my girl.

    LINC: Take heed, my Lord, advise you what you do;
    A verier 76939unthrift lives not in the world
    Than is my cousin; for I'll tell you what,
    'Tis now almost a year since he requested
    To travel countries for experience;
    I furnish'd him with coin, bills of exchange,
    Letters of credit, men to wait on him,
    Solicited my friends in Italy
    Well to respect him; but to see the end:
    Scant had he journey'd through half Germany,
    But all his coin was spent, his men cast off,
    His bills embezzl'd, and my 60876jolly coz
    Asham'd to show his bankrupt presence here,
    Became a shoemaker in Wittenberg.
    54336A goodly science for a gentleman
    of such descent!20899 Now judge rest by this:
    Suppose your daughter have a thousand pound,
    He did consume me more in one half - year;
    And make him heir to all the wealth you have,
    One twelvemonth's rioting will waste it all.
    Then seek, my Lord, some honest citizen
    To wed your daughter to.
    L.MAYOR: I thank your Lordship.
    (Aside.) 50779Well, fox, I understand your subtlety.-
    As for your nephew, let your lordship's eye
    But watch his actions, and you need not fear
    For I have sent my daughter far enough.
    And yet your cousin Rowland might do well
    Now he hath learn'd an occupation;
    (Aside.) And yet I scorn to call him son - in - law.

    LINC: Ay, but I have a better trade for him;
    I thank His Grace he hath appointed him
    Chief colonel of all those companies
    Muster'd in London and the shires about
    to serve His Highness in those 24190wars of France.
    See where he comes.
    [passage-footer]
    [/passage-footer]

    ...view full instructions

    Lord Mayor's attitude toward Lacy can best be described as ___________. 
    Solution
    The Lord Mayor knows his daughter is not suitable for the Earl's cousin, but he is also aware that she deserves better than a shoe-maker. Through downgrading his own daughter, the mayor disguises his disapproval to Lacy's suit. Therefore, option E is the correct answer. The statements of options A,B,C and D are incoherent in context to the text, and therefore, incorrect. 
  • Question 10
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    Directions For Questions

    [passage-header]This passage is adapted from Edith Wharton's, Ethan Frome, originally published in 1911. [/passage-header]41647Mattie Silver is Ethan's household employee. Mattie Silver had lived under Ethan's roof for a year, and from early morning till they met at supper he had frequent chances of seeing her; but no moments in her company were comparable to those when her arm in his, and 65323her light step flying to keep time with his long stride90116, they walked back through the night to the farm64150. 11269He had taken to the girl from the first day, when he had driven over to the Flats to meet her, and she had smiled and waved to him from the train, crying out, "You must be Ethan!" as she jumped down with her bundles, while he reflected, looking over her slight person: "She don't look much on housework, but she ain't a fretter, anyhow69901. "32157But it was not only that the coming to his house of a bit of hopeful young life was like the lighting of a fire on a cold hearth76531. The girl was more than the bright serviceable creature he had thought her. 55078She had an eye to see and an ear to hear: he could show her things and tell her things, and taste the bliss of feeling that all he imparted left long reverberations and echoes he could wake at will80054. 

    It was during their night walks back to the farm that he felt most intensely the sweetness of this communion. He had always been more sensitive than the people about him to the appeal of natural beauty. His unfinished studies had given form to this sensibility and even in his unhappiest moments field and sky spoke to him with a deep and powerful persuasion. But hitherto the emotion had remained in him as a silent ache, veiling with sadness the beauty that evoked it. He did not even know whether anyone else in the world felt as he did, or whether he was the sole victim of this mournful privilege. Then he learned that one other spirit had trembled with the same touch of wonder: that at his side, living under his roof and eating his bread, was a creature to whom he could say: "That's Orion down yonder; the big fellow to the right is Aldebaran, and the bunch of little ones-like bees swarming-they're the Pleiades..." or whom he could hold entranced before a ledge of granite thrusting up through the fern while he unrolled the huge panorama of the ice age and the long dim stretches of succeeding time. The fact that admiration for his learning mingled with Mattie's wonder at what he taught was not the least part of his pleasure. 57425And there were other sensations, less definable but more exquisite, which drew them together with a shock of silent joy: the cold red of sunset behind winter hills, the flight of cloud-flocks over slopes of golden stubble, or the intensely blue shadows of hemlocks on sunlit snow73378. When she said to him once: "It looks just as if it was painted!" it seemed to Ethan that the art of definition could go no farther and that words had at last been found to utter his secret soul.... 

    As he stood in the darkness outside the church these memories came back with the poignancy of vanished things. Watching Mattie whirl down the floor from hand to hand he wondered how he could ever have thought that his dull talk interested her. To him, who was never gay but in her presence, her gaiety seemed plain proof of indifference. The face she lifted to her dancers was the same which, when she saw him, always looked like a window that has caught the sunset. He even noticed two or three gestures which, in his fatuity, he had thought she kept for him: a way of throwing her head back when she was amused, as if to taste her laugh before she let it out, and a trick of sinking her lids slowly when anything charmed or moved her.

    ...view full instructions

    Over the course of the passage, the main focus of the narrative shifts from the ____________
    Solution
    Option B captures the sentiment of the passage stating the shift in narrative where the narrator speaks of his emotions for Mattie, the depth and intensity with which he felt them. Then, his thoughts are put into check when he is concerned about the reciprocity of those feelings. He doesn't know if she feels the same way about him and that eats him up. There are no reservations in his mind, which vanished the moment he came in contact with her. Despite the doubt about Mattie's indifference towards him, he was sure about his own emotions and had no problem recognizing them. Though the elements of nature are mentioned and the narrator is vocal about being enthralled by Mattie's beauty, the narrative has nothing to do with it. Thus, options A,B and C are incorrect in this context.
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