by Cesar Aira
A wave of joy and confidence swept through me each time I identified it. I thought of it as a kind of friend, a friendly object, perhaps because in this case the inertness of a thing had been leavened with that minimal tremor of life that is the starting point for all fantasies. Perhaps, in a corner of my subconscious, I was grateful to it for being different from all the other carts in the civilized world, and for having revealed that difference to me and no one else.
I liked to imagine it in the solitude and silence of midnight, rolling very slowly through the dimness, like a little boat full of holes setting off in search of adventure, knowledge, and (why not?) love. But what could it find in that array of dairy products, vegetables, noodles, soft drinks, and canned peas, which was all it knew of the world? Nevertheless, it didn’t lose hope, but resumed its navigations, or never interrupted them, like someone who knows that his efforts are futile but keeps trying all the same.
The Cart', by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews, from THE MUSICAL BRAIN & OTHER STORIES, copyright ©2013 by Cesar Aira. Translation copyright © 2013 by Chris Andrews. Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Question
Use the passage below to answer the question.
Which explicit statement is supported by the details in the passage? Select the two correct answers.
(1 point)
Responses
The narrator feels lost and alone in the world.
The narrator feels lost and alone in the world.
The narrator and the cart share a vivid imagination.
The narrator and the cart share a vivid imagination.
The narrator thinks of the cart like a friend.
The narrator thinks of the cart like a friend.
The narrator attributes human characteristics to the cart.
The narrator attributes human characteristics to the cart.
The cart remains hopeful in the face of its narrow existence.
The cart remains hopeful in the face of its narrow existence.
1 answer
The two correct answers supported by the details in the passage are:
These statements align with the narrator's description of the cart as a "friendly object" and the way the narrator personifies it with qualities like hope and ambition, despite its limited existence.
