Which word best describes the tone of the passage?
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: A. Reflective and affectionate, with a note of sadness
- Step 1: The writer looks back on the grandfather's life. Step 2. The language is warm and ends with his death. Answer: reflective and affectionate. Why not the others: these do not fit.
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More Reading for Understanding, Analysis and Evaluation questions
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