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Information and IdeasHardWhat a literary passage conveys about a habit

Information and Ideas practice question

The following text is from a short story. The shop had been her father's, and his father's before that, and she kept the old sign above the door though its paint had gone and no one under sixty could make out the name. Customers called it 'the place on the corner'. She never corrected them, and she never repainted the sign.

Which statement best describes what the text conveys about the shopkeeper?

  1. A. She keeps the sign for reasons of her own rather than so that customers can read it.Correct
  2. B. She intends to repaint the sign as soon as she can.
  3. C. She is annoyed by the name customers use for the shop.
  4. D. She bought the shop only recently.

Answer: A. She keeps the sign for reasons of her own rather than so that customers can read it.

The sign is unreadable and she leaves it so, while accepting the customers' name for the shop. Its value to her isn't as a label.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. She intends to repaint the sign as soon as she can.
'She never repainted the sign' — and the text gives no plan to.
C. She is annoyed by the name customers use for the shop.
'She never corrected them' shows acceptance, not annoyance.
D. She bought the shop only recently.
The shop has been in her family for three generations.

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