How do the younger men feel about the grandfather?
My grandfather kept his boat in the same corner of the harbour for forty years, and every morning he walked down to it whatever the weather. When the arthritis took his hands, he still went, sitting on an upturned crate with a flask of tea, watching the younger men prepare their nets. They teased him gently, calling him the harbourmaster, and he pretended to be annoyed. I did not understand then that the boat was not a vehicle but a kind of anchor, the one fixed point in a life that the sea had always taken away from him in small pieces. When he died, the crate was left where it was, and nobody liked to move it.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Affectionate teasing
- Step 1: They call him the harbourmaster. Step 2. The teasing is gentle and he pretends to be annoyed. Answer: affectionate teasing. Why not the others: these are not supported.
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More Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation questions
- Why does the writer say the grandfather kept going to the harbour after his hands failed?
- What does the phrase 'the boat was not a vehicle but a kind of anchor' suggest?
- What is the effect of the final sentence of the passage?
- Which word best describes the tone of the passage?
- Which technique is used in 'the sea had always taken away from him in small pieces'?
- According to the passage, what has changed about reading?