What does the simile "like a cautious guest" suggest about the sea's retreat?
Each morning the sea retreats
like a cautious guest,
leaving its small change on the sand:
a shell, a bottle cap, a tangle of weed.
My father reads the flats the way
others read a newspaper,
slow, with his finger on the line,
counting what the water has forgotten.
I am learning his patience
as the light climbs the dunes,
and the gulls, those loud accountants,
tally every crumb.
like a cautious guest,
leaving its small change on the sand:
a shell, a bottle cap, a tangle of weed.
My father reads the flats the way
others read a newspaper,
slow, with his finger on the line,
counting what the water has forgotten.
I am learning his patience
as the light climbs the dunes,
and the gulls, those loud accountants,
tally every crumb.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. It is quiet and careful, as if the sea is trying not to disturb anything
- Step 1: A cautious guest leaves politely and quietly.
- Step 2: Linking the sea's retreat to this behaviour gives the movement a gentle, careful quality.
Answer
quiet, gentle, careful.
Why not the others: Nothing suggests violence, tiredness or noise.
Practise more Analysing Texts and Passages.
Free questions with an explanation for every one, and full timed NSW HSC mock tests.
More Analysing Texts and Passages questions
- In an analytical response, the main function of a thesis statement is to:
- Which paragraph opening is the strongest for an analytical response to a text about loneliness?
- The phrase "where the road gave up pretending to be a street" is an example of:
- The tank "still wore its rust like a medal". What does this image suggest?
- What is the main effect of the short sentence "Nothing had changed."?
- Which reading of Maya's feelings is best supported by "every sentence dissolved like salt in the heat" and "She did not look up"?