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Read the following passage from "Paul's Case" by Willa Cather and answer questions 31–35.

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When he awoke, it was three o’clock in the afternoon. He bounded up with a start; half of one of

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his precious days gone already! He spent more than an hour in dressing, watching every stage of his

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toilet carefully in the mirror. Everything was quite perfect; he was exactly the kind of boy he had always

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wanted to be.

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When he went downstairs Paul took a carriage and drove up Fifth Avenue toward the Park. The

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snow had somewhat abated; carriages and tradesmen’s wagons were hurrying soundlessly to and fro

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in the winter twilight; boys in woolen mufflers were shoveling off the doorsteps; the avenue stages

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made fine spots of color against the white street. Here and there on the corners were stands, with

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whole flower gardens blooming under glass cases, against the sides of which the snowflakes stuck and

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melted; violets, roses, carnations, lilies of the valley—somehow vastly more lovely and alluring that

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they blossomed thus unnaturally in the snow. The Park itself was a wonderful stage winterpiece.

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When he returned, the pause of the twilight had ceased and the tune of the streets had changed.

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The snow was falling faster, lights streamed from the hotels that reared their dozen stories fearlessly up

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into the storm, defying the raging Atlantic winds. A long, black stream of carriages poured down the

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avenue, intersected here and there by other streams, tending horizontally. There were a score of cabs

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about the entrance of his hotel, and his driver had to wait. Boys in livery were running in and out of

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the awning stretched across the sidewalk, up and down the red velvet carpet laid from the door to the

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street. Above, about, within it all was the rumble and roar, the hurry and toss of thousands of human

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beings as hot for pleasure as himself, and on every side of him towered the glaring affirmation of the

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omnipotence of wealth.

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The boy set his teeth and drew his shoulders together in a spasm of realization; the plot of all

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dramas, the text of all romances, the nerve-stuff of all sensations was whirling about him like the

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snowflakes.

How does Paul percieve fifth avenue ?
A.as a familar place as a new land
B.as a new land
C.as a new place of his dreams
D.as a place to avoid


The phrase "whirling about him like snowflakes " in lines 22 and 23 is an example of ?
a.allusion
b.alliteration
c.simile
d.onomatopoeia

Lines 22-23 offers example of ?
a.allusion
b.alliteration
c.simile
d.onomatopoeia

what does Paul's perception of the world suggest about his character ?
A.He is imaginative
B.He is realistic
C.He is insensitive
D.He is hardworking

Respuesta :

The correct answers are:

1) C. as a new place of his dreams

Paul is a nonconformist boy who feels that living in Cordelia´s street is almost unbearable for him. Working at Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh as an usher, he feels happy and free to be the person he really wanted to be. He really admires the theatre company’s members as he desires to lead their life. For this reason, he decides to go to a New York to have a different but a long-awaited life style.

According to this excerpt, In the author description of Paul´s perception of the city, it is possible to recognize Paul´s is amazement of each corner of the city. He believes that NY is the perfect city of his dreams and that everybody is happy to live there.

2) c. simile  

Simile is a literary device which consist of a comparison between two or more things through the use of the words "like" or "as".

In this particular fragment, Willa Cather makes a comparison between the exciting feeling of happiness and realization Paul experiences and the falling of snowflakes which whirl in the air.

3) Lines 22-23 offers example of Simile as it was stated in the previous question.

4) a. He is imaginative.  

Paul lives in an idealistic word where he can be a different person from he really is. He wants to lead the life of famous people as he thinks their life are prefect in contrast to his experiences at school or at home. He believes that he has changed his life just by staying in an expensive hotel and buying fine clothes, but it is just a temporary and absurd solution to his problem.