Comparative Texts Quiz

EXTRACT A

A terrible storm hit our ship one night, not long after we entered the tropics. The first burst of wind uprooted two of our masts, leaving only the foremast standing. Even so, it was more than enough, for we didn’t dare to put a rag of sail on it. The tempest raged in all its ferocity for five days. Except for one little boat, everything was washed off the decks. The steersman was tethered to the wheel for fear of being swept away, and we all gave up. The skipper claimed he had no clue where we were since we had been blown far off course, and we were terrified that we might end up among the deadly coral reefs that dot the Pacific. We sighted land ahead of us at daybreak on the sixth morning of the gale. It was an island surrounded by a coral reef where the seas raged. This reef had calm water, but we could only see one small entry onto it. We aimed for this opening, but as we approached it, a massive wave smashed on our stern, ripped the rudder entirely off, and left us at the mercy of the winds and seas. “It’s all over now, lads,” the skipper remarked to the sailors, “get the boat ready to launch; we’ll be on the rocks in less than half an hour.” The guys obeyed in dismal silence, knowing that such a tiny boat had little chance of surviving in such a sea. “Come lads,” Jason Lopez said solemnly to me and Peterkin as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate; “Come boys, we three shall stay together. It is obvious that the little boat, filled with men, would not be able to reach the beach. It will undoubtedly upset me, therefore I intend to rely on a huge oar. I see through the telescope that the ship will strike at the tail of the reef, where the waves break into the calm water within; thus, if we can hang to the oar until it is forced over the breakers, we could just make it to land. What do you think? Will you join me?” We gladly agreed to follow Jason because he instilled confidence in us, even though I could tell by the sad tone of his voice that he had little hope; and, indeed, when I looked at the white waves that lashed the reef and boiled against the rocks as if in fury, I felt there was only one step between us and death. My heart sunk inside me, but my thoughts wandered to my loving mother, and I remembered those words, which were among the last she uttered to me – “Steve, my darling child, always remember in the hour of danger to look to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone is capable and willing to save both your body and soul.” So thinking about that made me feel a lot better.

EXTRACT B

Then they set sail, saddened by the fact that they had not all been annihilated despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them. A terrible hurricane followed, which tossed them around for two nights and two days; but on the third day, the weather calmed, and they hoped for a favorable breeze to bring them to Ithaca; but as they rounded the Cape of Malea, a north wind arose and drove them back as far as Cythera. After that, opposing winds continued to push them in the opposite direction to the location to which they were going for nine days, and on the tenth day they arrived at a coast where a race of men reside who are maintained by the fruit of the lotos-tree. Here, Nav sent some of his men to land for fresh water, where they were met by some of the inhabitants, who gave them some of their country food to eat—not with any malice toward them, though in the end it proved pernicious; for, having eaten of this fruit, so pleasant it proved to their appetite that they forgot all thoughts of home, or of their countrymen, or of ever escaping. When Nav sent other of his men to look for them, and to bring them back by force, they strove, and wept, and would not leave their food for heaven itself, so much the pleasure of that enchanting fruit had bewitched them. But Nav had them chained hand and foot, put beneath the hatches, and made sail with all haste from that dreadful shore, lest others after them should taste the lotos, which had such odd characteristics as to make men forget their original land and thoughts of home. They arrived by daybreak in the land of the Cyclops, a kind of giant shepherds who neither sow nor plough, but the earth untilled produces for them rich wheat and barley and grapes, yet they have neither bread nor wine, nor know the arts of cultivation, nor care to know them; for they live each man to himself, without law. They have no ships or boats, no artisans to build them, no trade or commerce, and no desire to explore other coasts; but they have excellent locations for harbours and shipping. Nav arrived here with a handpicked company of twelve companions to investigate what kind of folks inhabited there, whether hospitable and kind to outsiders, or utterly wild and savage, as no residents were yet visible.

What did the sailors in Extract A attempt to achieve?

EXTRACT A

A terrible storm hit our ship one night, not long after we entered the tropics. The first burst of wind uprooted two of our masts, leaving only the foremast standing. Even so, it was more than enough, for we didn’t dare to put a rag of sail on it. The tempest raged in all its ferocity for five days. Except for one little boat, everything was washed off the decks. The steersman was tethered to the wheel for fear of being swept away, and we all gave up. The skipper claimed he had no clue where we were since we had been blown far off course, and we were terrified that we might end up among the deadly coral reefs that dot the Pacific. We sighted land ahead of us at daybreak on the sixth morning of the gale. It was an island surrounded by a coral reef where the seas raged. This reef had calm water, but we could only see one small entry onto it. We aimed for this opening, but as we approached it, a massive wave smashed on our stern, ripped the rudder entirely off, and left us at the mercy of the winds and seas. “It’s all over now, lads,” the skipper remarked to the sailors, “get the boat ready to launch; we’ll be on the rocks in less than half an hour.” The guys obeyed in dismal silence, knowing that such a tiny boat had little chance of surviving in such a sea. “Come lads,” Jason Lopez said solemnly to me and Peterkin as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate; “Come boys, we three shall stay together. It is obvious that the little boat, filled with men, would not be able to reach the beach. It will undoubtedly upset me, therefore I intend to rely on a huge oar. I see through the telescope that the ship will strike at the tail of the reef, where the waves break into the calm water within; thus, if we can hang to the oar until it is forced over the breakers, we could just make it to land. What do you think? Will you join me?” We gladly agreed to follow Jason because he instilled confidence in us, even though I could tell by the sad tone of his voice that he had little hope; and, indeed, when I looked at the white waves that lashed the reef and boiled against the rocks as if in fury, I felt there was only one step between us and death. My heart sunk inside me, but my thoughts wandered to my loving mother, and I remembered those words, which were among the last she uttered to me – “Steve, my darling child, always remember in the hour of danger to look to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone is capable and willing to save both your body and soul.” So thinking about that made me feel a lot better.

EXTRACT B

Then they set sail, saddened by the fact that they had not all been annihilated despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them. A terrible hurricane followed, which tossed them around for two nights and two days; but on the third day, the weather calmed, and they hoped for a favorable breeze to bring them to Ithaca; but as they rounded the Cape of Malea, a north wind arose and drove them back as far as Cythera. After that, opposing winds continued to push them in the opposite direction to the location to which they were going for nine days, and on the tenth day they arrived at a coast where a race of men reside who are maintained by the fruit of the lotos-tree. Here, Nav sent some of his men to land for fresh water, where they were met by some of the inhabitants, who gave them some of their country food to eat—not with any malice toward them, though in the end it proved pernicious; for, having eaten of this fruit, so pleasant it proved to their appetite that they forgot all thoughts of home, or of their countrymen, or of ever escaping. When Nav sent other of his men to look for them, and to bring them back by force, they strove, and wept, and would not leave their food for heaven itself, so much the pleasure of that enchanting fruit had bewitched them. But Nav had them chained hand and foot, put beneath the hatches, and made sail with all haste from that dreadful shore, lest others after them should taste the lotos, which had such odd characteristics as to make men forget their original land and thoughts of home. They arrived by daybreak in the land of the Cyclops, a kind of giant shepherds who neither sow nor plough, but the earth untilled produces for them rich wheat and barley and grapes, yet they have neither bread nor wine, nor know the arts of cultivation, nor care to know them; for they live each man to himself, without law. They have no ships or boats, no artisans to build them, no trade or commerce, and no desire to explore other coasts; but they have excellent locations for harbours and shipping. Nav arrived here with a handpicked company of twelve companions to investigate what kind of folks inhabited there, whether hospitable and kind to outsiders, or utterly wild and savage, as no residents were yet visible.

What can we say about the race of men on the island that Nav visited?

EXTRACT A

A terrible storm hit our ship one night, not long after we entered the tropics. The first burst of wind uprooted two of our masts, leaving only the foremast standing. Even so, it was more than enough, for we didn’t dare to put a rag of sail on it. The tempest raged in all its ferocity for five days. Except for one little boat, everything was washed off the decks. The steersman was tethered to the wheel for fear of being swept away, and we all gave up. The skipper claimed he had no clue where we were since we had been blown far off course, and we were terrified that we might end up among the deadly coral reefs that dot the Pacific. We sighted land ahead of us at daybreak on the sixth morning of the gale. It was an island surrounded by a coral reef where the seas raged. This reef had calm water, but we could only see one small entry onto it. We aimed for this opening, but as we approached it, a massive wave smashed on our stern, ripped the rudder entirely off, and left us at the mercy of the winds and seas. “It’s all over now, lads,” the skipper remarked to the sailors, “get the boat ready to launch; we’ll be on the rocks in less than half an hour.” The guys obeyed in dismal silence, knowing that such a tiny boat had little chance of surviving in such a sea. “Come lads,” Jason Lopez said solemnly to me and Peterkin as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate; “Come boys, we three shall stay together. It is obvious that the little boat, filled with men, would not be able to reach the beach. It will undoubtedly upset me, therefore I intend to rely on a huge oar. I see through the telescope that the ship will strike at the tail of the reef, where the waves break into the calm water within; thus, if we can hang to the oar until it is forced over the breakers, we could just make it to land. What do you think? Will you join me?” We gladly agreed to follow Jason because he instilled confidence in us, even though I could tell by the sad tone of his voice that he had little hope; and, indeed, when I looked at the white waves that lashed the reef and boiled against the rocks as if in fury, I felt there was only one step between us and death. My heart sunk inside me, but my thoughts wandered to my loving mother, and I remembered those words, which were among the last she uttered to me – “Steve, my darling child, always remember in the hour of danger to look to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone is capable and willing to save both your body and soul.” So thinking about that made me feel a lot better.

EXTRACT B

Then they set sail, saddened by the fact that they had not all been annihilated despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them. A terrible hurricane followed, which tossed them around for two nights and two days; but on the third day, the weather calmed, and they hoped for a favorable breeze to bring them to Ithaca; but as they rounded the Cape of Malea, a north wind arose and drove them back as far as Cythera. After that, opposing winds continued to push them in the opposite direction to the location to which they were going for nine days, and on the tenth day they arrived at a coast where a race of men reside who are maintained by the fruit of the lotos-tree. Here, Nav sent some of his men to land for fresh water, where they were met by some of the inhabitants, who gave them some of their country food to eat—not with any malice toward them, though in the end it proved pernicious; for, having eaten of this fruit, so pleasant it proved to their appetite that they forgot all thoughts of home, or of their countrymen, or of ever escaping. When Nav sent other of his men to look for them, and to bring them back by force, they strove, and wept, and would not leave their food for heaven itself, so much the pleasure of that enchanting fruit had bewitched them. But Nav had them chained hand and foot, put beneath the hatches, and made sail with all haste from that dreadful shore, lest others after them should taste the lotos, which had such odd characteristics as to make men forget their original land and thoughts of home. They arrived by daybreak in the land of the Cyclops, a kind of giant shepherds who neither sow nor plough, but the earth untilled produces for them rich wheat and barley and grapes, yet they have neither bread nor wine, nor know the arts of cultivation, nor care to know them; for they live each man to himself, without law. They have no ships or boats, no artisans to build them, no trade or commerce, and no desire to explore other coasts; but they have excellent locations for harbours and shipping. Nav arrived here with a handpicked company of twelve companions to investigate what kind of folks inhabited there, whether hospitable and kind to outsiders, or utterly wild and savage, as no residents were yet visible.

In Extract B, Nav saw the opportunity to

EXTRACT A

A terrible storm hit our ship one night, not long after we entered the tropics. The first burst of wind uprooted two of our masts, leaving only the foremast standing. Even so, it was more than enough, for we didn’t dare to put a rag of sail on it. The tempest raged in all its ferocity for five days. Except for one little boat, everything was washed off the decks. The steersman was tethered to the wheel for fear of being swept away, and we all gave up. The skipper claimed he had no clue where we were since we had been blown far off course, and we were terrified that we might end up among the deadly coral reefs that dot the Pacific. We sighted land ahead of us at daybreak on the sixth morning of the gale. It was an island surrounded by a coral reef where the seas raged. This reef had calm water, but we could only see one small entry onto it. We aimed for this opening, but as we approached it, a massive wave smashed on our stern, ripped the rudder entirely off, and left us at the mercy of the winds and seas. “It’s all over now, lads,” the skipper remarked to the sailors, “get the boat ready to launch; we’ll be on the rocks in less than half an hour.” The guys obeyed in dismal silence, knowing that such a tiny boat had little chance of surviving in such a sea. “Come lads,” Jason Lopez said solemnly to me and Peterkin as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate; “Come boys, we three shall stay together. It is obvious that the little boat, filled with men, would not be able to reach the beach. It will undoubtedly upset me, therefore I intend to rely on a huge oar. I see through the telescope that the ship will strike at the tail of the reef, where the waves break into the calm water within; thus, if we can hang to the oar until it is forced over the breakers, we could just make it to land. What do you think? Will you join me?” We gladly agreed to follow Jason because he instilled confidence in us, even though I could tell by the sad tone of his voice that he had little hope; and, indeed, when I looked at the white waves that lashed the reef and boiled against the rocks as if in fury, I felt there was only one step between us and death. My heart sunk inside me, but my thoughts wandered to my loving mother, and I remembered those words, which were among the last she uttered to me – “Steve, my darling child, always remember in the hour of danger to look to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone is capable and willing to save both your body and soul.” So thinking about that made me feel a lot better.

EXTRACT B

Then they set sail, saddened by the fact that they had not all been annihilated despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them. A terrible hurricane followed, which tossed them around for two nights and two days; but on the third day, the weather calmed, and they hoped for a favorable breeze to bring them to Ithaca; but as they rounded the Cape of Malea, a north wind arose and drove them back as far as Cythera. After that, opposing winds continued to push them in the opposite direction to the location to which they were going for nine days, and on the tenth day they arrived at a coast where a race of men reside who are maintained by the fruit of the lotos-tree. Here, Nav sent some of his men to land for fresh water, where they were met by some of the inhabitants, who gave them some of their country food to eat—not with any malice toward them, though in the end it proved pernicious; for, having eaten of this fruit, so pleasant it proved to their appetite that they forgot all thoughts of home, or of their countrymen, or of ever escaping. When Nav sent other of his men to look for them, and to bring them back by force, they strove, and wept, and would not leave their food for heaven itself, so much the pleasure of that enchanting fruit had bewitched them. But Nav had them chained hand and foot, put beneath the hatches, and made sail with all haste from that dreadful shore, lest others after them should taste the lotos, which had such odd characteristics as to make men forget their original land and thoughts of home. They arrived by daybreak in the land of the Cyclops, a kind of giant shepherds who neither sow nor plough, but the earth untilled produces for them rich wheat and barley and grapes, yet they have neither bread nor wine, nor know the arts of cultivation, nor care to know them; for they live each man to himself, without law. They have no ships or boats, no artisans to build them, no trade or commerce, and no desire to explore other coasts; but they have excellent locations for harbours and shipping. Nav arrived here with a handpicked company of twelve companions to investigate what kind of folks inhabited there, whether hospitable and kind to outsiders, or utterly wild and savage, as no residents were yet visible.

5. Both Extracts mention

EXTRACT A

A terrible storm hit our ship one night, not long after we entered the tropics. The first burst of wind uprooted two of our masts, leaving only the foremast standing. Even so, it was more than enough, for we didn’t dare to put a rag of sail on it. The tempest raged in all its ferocity for five days. Except for one little boat, everything was washed off the decks. The steersman was tethered to the wheel for fear of being swept away, and we all gave up. The skipper claimed he had no clue where we were since we had been blown far off course, and we were terrified that we might end up among the deadly coral reefs that dot the Pacific. We sighted land ahead of us at daybreak on the sixth morning of the gale. It was an island surrounded by a coral reef where the seas raged. This reef had calm water, but we could only see one small entry onto it. We aimed for this opening, but as we approached it, a massive wave smashed on our stern, ripped the rudder entirely off, and left us at the mercy of the winds and seas. “It’s all over now, lads,” the skipper remarked to the sailors, “get the boat ready to launch; we’ll be on the rocks in less than half an hour.” The guys obeyed in dismal silence, knowing that such a tiny boat had little chance of surviving in such a sea. “Come lads,” Jason Lopez said solemnly to me and Peterkin as we stood on the quarterdeck awaiting our fate; “Come boys, we three shall stay together. It is obvious that the little boat, filled with men, would not be able to reach the beach. It will undoubtedly upset me, therefore I intend to rely on a huge oar. I see through the telescope that the ship will strike at the tail of the reef, where the waves break into the calm water within; thus, if we can hang to the oar until it is forced over the breakers, we could just make it to land. What do you think? Will you join me?” We gladly agreed to follow Jason because he instilled confidence in us, even though I could tell by the sad tone of his voice that he had little hope; and, indeed, when I looked at the white waves that lashed the reef and boiled against the rocks as if in fury, I felt there was only one step between us and death. My heart sunk inside me, but my thoughts wandered to my loving mother, and I remembered those words, which were among the last she uttered to me – “Steve, my darling child, always remember in the hour of danger to look to your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He alone is capable and willing to save both your body and soul.” So thinking about that made me feel a lot better.

EXTRACT B

Then they set sail, saddened by the fact that they had not all been annihilated despite the fact that the odds were stacked against them. A terrible hurricane followed, which tossed them around for two nights and two days; but on the third day, the weather calmed, and they hoped for a favorable breeze to bring them to Ithaca; but as they rounded the Cape of Malea, a north wind arose and drove them back as far as Cythera. After that, opposing winds continued to push them in the opposite direction to the location to which they were going for nine days, and on the tenth day they arrived at a coast where a race of men reside who are maintained by the fruit of the lotos-tree. Here, Nav sent some of his men to land for fresh water, where they were met by some of the inhabitants, who gave them some of their country food to eat—not with any malice toward them, though in the end it proved pernicious; for, having eaten of this fruit, so pleasant it proved to their appetite that they forgot all thoughts of home, or of their countrymen, or of ever escaping. When Nav sent other of his men to look for them, and to bring them back by force, they strove, and wept, and would not leave their food for heaven itself, so much the pleasure of that enchanting fruit had bewitched them. But Nav had them chained hand and foot, put beneath the hatches, and made sail with all haste from that dreadful shore, lest others after them should taste the lotos, which had such odd characteristics as to make men forget their original land and thoughts of home. They arrived by daybreak in the land of the Cyclops, a kind of giant shepherds who neither sow nor plough, but the earth untilled produces for them rich wheat and barley and grapes, yet they have neither bread nor wine, nor know the arts of cultivation, nor care to know them; for they live each man to himself, without law. They have no ships or boats, no artisans to build them, no trade or commerce, and no desire to explore other coasts; but they have excellent locations for harbours and shipping. Nav arrived here with a handpicked company of twelve companions to investigate what kind of folks inhabited there, whether hospitable and kind to outsiders, or utterly wild and savage, as no residents were yet visible.

From Extract A, we can conclude that

EXTRACT A: from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar⁠—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

EXTRACT B: from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor’s business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she “ran” the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting “cotton warp” quilts⁠—she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices⁠—and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel’s all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde⁠—a meek little man whom Avonlea people called “Rachel Lynde’s husband”⁠—was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables.

Both extracts mention

EXTRACT A: from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar⁠—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

EXTRACT B: from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor’s business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she “ran” the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting “cotton warp” quilts⁠—she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices⁠—and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel’s all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde⁠—a meek little man whom Avonlea people called “Rachel Lynde’s husband”⁠—was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables.

How did the writer in Extract A implicitly describe the age of the house?

EXTRACT A: from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar⁠—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

EXTRACT B: from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor’s business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she “ran” the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting “cotton warp” quilts⁠—she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices⁠—and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel’s all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde⁠—a meek little man whom Avonlea people called “Rachel Lynde’s husband”⁠—was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables.

Which of the following caused astonishment in Extract B?

EXTRACT A: from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar⁠—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

EXTRACT B: from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor’s business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she “ran” the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting “cotton warp” quilts⁠—she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices⁠—and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel’s all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde⁠—a meek little man whom Avonlea people called “Rachel Lynde’s husband”⁠—was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables.

How did the writer in Extract A conclude that Aunt Em changed because of the place she was living in?

EXTRACT A: from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Dorothy lived in the midst of the great Kansas prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer’s wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room; and this room contained a rusty looking cookstove, a cupboard for the dishes, a table, three or four chairs, and the beds. Uncle Henry and Aunt Em had a big bed in one corner, and Dorothy a little bed in another corner. There was no garret at all, and no cellar⁠—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path. It was reached by a trap door in the middle of the floor, from which a ladder led down into the small, dark hole.

When Dorothy stood in the doorway and looked around, she could see nothing but the great gray prairie on every side. Not a tree nor a house broke the broad sweep of flat country that reached to the edge of the sky in all directions. The sun had baked the plowed land into a gray mass, with little cracks running through it. Even the grass was not green, for the sun had burned the tops of the long blades until they were the same gray color to be seen everywhere. Once the house had been painted, but the sun blistered the paint and the rains washed it away, and now the house was as dull and gray as everything else.

When Aunt Em came there to live she was a young, pretty wife. The sun and wind had changed her, too. They had taken the sparkle from her eyes and left them a sober gray; they had taken the red from her cheeks and lips, and they were gray also. She was thin and gaunt, and never smiled now. When Dorothy, who was an orphan, first came to her, Aunt Em had been so startled by the child’s laughter that she would scream and press her hand upon her heart whenever Dorothy’s merry voice reached her ears; and she still looked at the little girl with wonder that she could find anything to laugh at.

Uncle Henry never laughed. He worked hard from morning till night and did not know what joy was. He was gray also, from his long beard to his rough boots, and he looked stern and solemn, and rarely spoke.

EXTRACT B: from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks and children up, and that if she noticed anything odd or out of place she would never rest until she had ferreted out the whys and wherefores thereof.

There are plenty of people in Avonlea and out of it, who can attend closely to their neighbor’s business by dint of neglecting their own; but Mrs. Rachel Lynde was one of those capable creatures who can manage their own concerns and those of other folks into the bargain. She was a notable housewife; her work was always done and well done; she “ran” the Sewing Circle, helped run the Sunday-school, and was the strongest prop of the Church Aid Society and Foreign Missions Auxiliary. Yet with all this Mrs. Rachel found abundant time to sit for hours at her kitchen window, knitting “cotton warp” quilts⁠—she had knitted sixteen of them, as Avonlea housekeepers were wont to tell in awed voices⁠—and keeping a sharp eye on the main road that crossed the hollow and wound up the steep red hill beyond. Since Avonlea occupied a little triangular peninsula jutting out into the Gulf of St. Lawrence with water on two sides of it, anybody who went out of it or into it had to pass over that hill road and so run the unseen gauntlet of Mrs. Rachel’s all-seeing eye.

She was sitting there one afternoon in early June. The sun was coming in at the window warm and bright; the orchard on the slope below the house was in a bridal flush of pinky-white bloom, hummed over by a myriad of bees. Thomas Lynde⁠—a meek little man whom Avonlea people called “Rachel Lynde’s husband”⁠—was sowing his late turnip seed on the hill field beyond the barn; and Matthew Cuthbert ought to have been sowing his on the big red brook field away over by Green Gables.

Which extract(s) mentions an unpleasant residence?