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Craft and StructureHardFunction of a detail in a literary passage

Craft and Structure practice question

The following text is from a novel. Omar had kept every train ticket from the years he travelled to see her, and he found them now in a shoebox: four hundred small rectangles, each a Saturday. He did not need to count them. He knew.

Which choice best describes the function of the detail that Omar 'did not need to count them'?

  1. A. It suggests that Omar has carried the memory of every visit so closely that the tally is already part of him.Correct
  2. B. It shows that Omar is bad at arithmetic.
  3. C. It indicates that the tickets are worthless.
  4. D. It implies that Omar has forgotten the visits.

Answer: A. It suggests that Omar has carried the memory of every visit so closely that the tally is already part of him.

'He knew': the number was never in doubt because the visits were never forgotten.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. It shows that Omar is bad at arithmetic.
Not needing to count is about memory, not arithmetic.
C. It indicates that the tickets are worthless.
Keeping them for years shows their value to him.
D. It implies that Omar has forgotten the visits.
The opposite: he remembers exactly.

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