Question
[1] We spent a happy week with Sister, and our visit was almost ended when, one day, she took us into her big godown. The greater part of our ancient treasures were now only worthless burdens, but there were some things that I wanted the children to see. In the old days, they had been both useful and beautiful, and, to me, were still full of precious memories.
We passed through the heavy door, a foot thick of fireproof plaster, and entered a large room, all four sides filled with shelves, most of them crowded full to the edge. There were rows and rows of high narrow boxes containing a whole library of soft-backed books. There were rows of still larger boxes holding dishes and trays. There were long, slender boxes of roll pictures and many ornaments - bronze vases, incense burners, and carvings of wood and ivory - all neatly tied up in squares of cotton or silk.
"Just look!" cried Hanano, gazing about her in astonishment. "I never saw so many things, at once, in all my life!"
"It's like a store," said Chiyo, "only everything is put away so nicely, and yet it's all mixed up, too!" [5] "Don't be critical of my housekeeping," laughed Sister. "A well-filled godown is said to be the best museum of household belongings that is to be found in all Japan; and it ought to be, for it is the place where we keep everything that is not in immediate use. Things are put in and pulled out every day. I never knew of a godown that looked in order."
But Sister's godown really was in disarray, for in some half-filled shelves and in a wide space beyond the wooden steps leading to the floor above were gathered a lot of objects from our previous home, for which suitable places had not yet been found.
I saw the big, cumbersome palanquin that Father had used on his official trips to the capital in the years before the name was changed from Yedo to Tokyo. The lacquer was dulled, the metal ornaments tarnished, and the brocade cushions faded, but Hanano thought it wondrously elegant. She crept inside, settled herself comfortably on the thick cushion, and rested her elbow on the lacquer armrest. Then she glanced at the misty reflection of her face in the metal hanging mirror and declared that Honourable Grandfather's travelling coach was convenient and comfortable enough for a trip all the way to America. "This holds my 'treasure dresses," said Sister, waving her hand toward a low chest of drawers. "The clothes that I wear I keep downstairs within easy reach, but some of these have been in the family for more than two hundred years."
She took out an elaborately embroidered trained garment with a scarlet lining and heavily padded hem - a dress of ceremony, worn, even in ancient times, only on special occasions.
[10] "It looks just like the splendid dresses we saw in that play at the Tokyo theatre, doesn't it?" said Hanano.
And indeed it did. For only on the stage were these gorgeous costumes to be seen in modern life.
"Come over this way," said Sister, leading us to the other side of the room. "Here is something that belongs to you, Etsu."
She pulled out a narrow drawer. Within, wrapped in purple crêpe on which was the Inagaki crest, lay a slender parcel about a foot long. My heart gave a bound. It was one of our three family treasures - the saihai used by a ruler of Japan and presented by him to my ancestor.
Reverently, I lifted the precious thing to my forehead. Then, bidding the children sit with bowed heads, I slowly unwrapped the square of crêpe, disclosing a short, thick rod of lacquered wood, having on one end a silk cord for a wrist loop and on the other a bronze chain-clasp that held a bunch of soft, tough paper cut in strips.
[15] We all sat very quiet while Sister told the children of the brave ancestor who, in a time of peril, saved the life of his great overlord; and how in gracious remembrance, the ruler presented our ancestor with his own coat, his wonderful Masamune sword, and this rod which he used in guiding his followers on the battlefield. "And," concluded Sister, "all three are still kept in the Inagaki family as sacred treasures.
"It looks like just a plain wooden stick, doesn't it?" whispered Chiyo to Hanano.
"So it is," said Sister. "As plain as the most simple director rod used by any ancient general."
We gazed only a moment, then put it away. Thoughts of the past, beautiful and solemn, were crowding my mind when there came a sudden "bang!" from one of the heavy, swinging windows. They were always closed from the outside by someone with a long pole and evidently were being shut this time by someone who did not know that we were still there.
"It is late. Make haste, I inhospitably beg you," laughed Sister; and we all scrambled down the narrow stairs and out of the door, hearing the windows bang one after another behind us, shutting the godown, with all its treasures, into darkness.
Question: What do paragraphs 12-13 reveal about Sister?
A. Sister knows the saihai is meaningful to the narrator.
B. Sister is suprised that the narrator reacts to the saihai.
C. Sister is unsure how the narrator feels about the saihai
D. Sister believes the narrator doubts the importance of the saihai
We passed through the heavy door, a foot thick of fireproof plaster, and entered a large room, all four sides filled with shelves, most of them crowded full to the edge. There were rows and rows of high narrow boxes containing a whole library of soft-backed books. There were rows of still larger boxes holding dishes and trays. There were long, slender boxes of roll pictures and many ornaments - bronze vases, incense burners, and carvings of wood and ivory - all neatly tied up in squares of cotton or silk.
"Just look!" cried Hanano, gazing about her in astonishment. "I never saw so many things, at once, in all my life!"
"It's like a store," said Chiyo, "only everything is put away so nicely, and yet it's all mixed up, too!" [5] "Don't be critical of my housekeeping," laughed Sister. "A well-filled godown is said to be the best museum of household belongings that is to be found in all Japan; and it ought to be, for it is the place where we keep everything that is not in immediate use. Things are put in and pulled out every day. I never knew of a godown that looked in order."
But Sister's godown really was in disarray, for in some half-filled shelves and in a wide space beyond the wooden steps leading to the floor above were gathered a lot of objects from our previous home, for which suitable places had not yet been found.
I saw the big, cumbersome palanquin that Father had used on his official trips to the capital in the years before the name was changed from Yedo to Tokyo. The lacquer was dulled, the metal ornaments tarnished, and the brocade cushions faded, but Hanano thought it wondrously elegant. She crept inside, settled herself comfortably on the thick cushion, and rested her elbow on the lacquer armrest. Then she glanced at the misty reflection of her face in the metal hanging mirror and declared that Honourable Grandfather's travelling coach was convenient and comfortable enough for a trip all the way to America. "This holds my 'treasure dresses," said Sister, waving her hand toward a low chest of drawers. "The clothes that I wear I keep downstairs within easy reach, but some of these have been in the family for more than two hundred years."
She took out an elaborately embroidered trained garment with a scarlet lining and heavily padded hem - a dress of ceremony, worn, even in ancient times, only on special occasions.
[10] "It looks just like the splendid dresses we saw in that play at the Tokyo theatre, doesn't it?" said Hanano.
And indeed it did. For only on the stage were these gorgeous costumes to be seen in modern life.
"Come over this way," said Sister, leading us to the other side of the room. "Here is something that belongs to you, Etsu."
She pulled out a narrow drawer. Within, wrapped in purple crêpe on which was the Inagaki crest, lay a slender parcel about a foot long. My heart gave a bound. It was one of our three family treasures - the saihai used by a ruler of Japan and presented by him to my ancestor.
Reverently, I lifted the precious thing to my forehead. Then, bidding the children sit with bowed heads, I slowly unwrapped the square of crêpe, disclosing a short, thick rod of lacquered wood, having on one end a silk cord for a wrist loop and on the other a bronze chain-clasp that held a bunch of soft, tough paper cut in strips.
[15] We all sat very quiet while Sister told the children of the brave ancestor who, in a time of peril, saved the life of his great overlord; and how in gracious remembrance, the ruler presented our ancestor with his own coat, his wonderful Masamune sword, and this rod which he used in guiding his followers on the battlefield. "And," concluded Sister, "all three are still kept in the Inagaki family as sacred treasures.
"It looks like just a plain wooden stick, doesn't it?" whispered Chiyo to Hanano.
"So it is," said Sister. "As plain as the most simple director rod used by any ancient general."
We gazed only a moment, then put it away. Thoughts of the past, beautiful and solemn, were crowding my mind when there came a sudden "bang!" from one of the heavy, swinging windows. They were always closed from the outside by someone with a long pole and evidently were being shut this time by someone who did not know that we were still there.
"It is late. Make haste, I inhospitably beg you," laughed Sister; and we all scrambled down the narrow stairs and out of the door, hearing the windows bang one after another behind us, shutting the godown, with all its treasures, into darkness.
Question: What do paragraphs 12-13 reveal about Sister?
A. Sister knows the saihai is meaningful to the narrator.
B. Sister is suprised that the narrator reacts to the saihai.
C. Sister is unsure how the narrator feels about the saihai
D. Sister believes the narrator doubts the importance of the saihai
Answers
GPT-4o mini
The correct answer is A. Sister knows the saihai is meaningful to the narrator.
In paragraphs 12-13, Sister presents the saihai to Etsu (the narrator) and tells the story behind it. She demonstrates an understanding of its significance by referring to it as one of the family's treasured heirlooms and by sharing the legacy associated with it. This indicates that she recognizes its importance to the narrator.
In paragraphs 12-13, Sister presents the saihai to Etsu (the narrator) and tells the story behind it. She demonstrates an understanding of its significance by referring to it as one of the family's treasured heirlooms and by sharing the legacy associated with it. This indicates that she recognizes its importance to the narrator.