The following text is from Lucy Maud Montgomery’s 1908 novel Anne of Green Gables. Anne, an eleven-year-old girl, has come to live on a farm with a woman named Marilla in Nova Scotia, Canada.
Anne reveled in the world of color about her.
“Oh, Marilla,” she exclaimed one Saturday morning, coming dancing in with her arms full of gorgeous boughs, “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it? Look at these maple branches. Don’t they give you a thrill—several thrills? I’m going to decorate my room with them.”
“Messy things,” said Marilla, whose aesthetic sense was not noticeably developed. “You clutter up your room entirely too much with out-of-doors stuff, Anne. Bedrooms were made to sleep in.”
Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?
Explanation
Context: The passage (from Montgomery's novel) shows Anne dancing in with autumn maple branches, expressing joy about October and planning to decorate her room. Marilla dismisses this as "messy," saying bedrooms are for sleeping. Their exchange shows their contrasting sensibilities.
Answer: D) To show that Anne and Marilla have very different personalities
Why? Anne's exuberant love of nature and beauty is directly contrasted with Marilla's pragmatism and undeveloped "aesthetic sense." The dialogue is structured as a clash of personalities.
Traps:
- A) To demonstrate that Anne has a newly developed appreciation of nature → the passage doesn't suggest this is new; Anne's nature-love seems to be an established characteristic
- B) To describe an argument that Anne and Marilla often have → the passage doesn't indicate this is a recurring argument; it's one specific exchange
- C) To emphasize Marilla's disapproval of how Anne has decorated her room → Marilla's disapproval is part of the scene, but the broader purpose is the personality contrast, not Marilla's opinion alone