16Hit1600
Craft and StructureHardFunction of a comparison in a literary passage

Craft and Structure practice question

The following text is from a short story. Her grandfather's workshop smelled of linseed and iron filings, and the tools hung on the wall in outlines he had painted around them, so that a missing chisel showed as a pale ghost of itself. She had been looking at those ghosts, she realised, for most of her life.

Which choice best describes the function of the image of the painted outlines?

  1. A. It suggests that absence has long been part of the character's experience of the workshop.Correct
  2. B. It shows that the grandfather was careless with his tools.
  3. C. It explains how the tools were manufactured.
  4. D. It indicates that the workshop has been abandoned.

Answer: A. It suggests that absence has long been part of the character's experience of the workshop.

A missing tool shows as a 'ghost'; she has looked at 'those ghosts' most of her life. The outlines make absence visible.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It shows that the grandfather was careless with his tools.
Painted outlines are a sign of order, not carelessness.
C. It explains how the tools were manufactured.
Manufacture is never mentioned.
D. It indicates that the workshop has been abandoned.
Nothing says the workshop is abandoned; the smell is present-tense.

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