Question
NOTE: After reading a newspaper article about the death of Rose Standish, the narrator remembers how, years before, he and his friend Billy collected sea glass to sell to the strange, older woman who lived at the tip of Hull Peninsula in Massachusetts.
1
When Billy came home the following week, I told him I'd promised to find some red sea glass for the old woman, but he said, "Red sea glass doesn't even exist."
2
"That's because it can only be found during low tide at midnight," I said with false conviction.
3
That night, we went to the beach later than I'd ever gone before, and it seemed unnaturally peaceful. We turned on our flashlights and walked down the beach slowly when I suddenly spotted a bright red glint at my feet. I bent to pick it up and held it to the light, exclaiming loudly, "I've got one!"
4
Billy came running over, laughing. "Noooo way!"
5
As I showed it to him, we were suddenly jolted by a man's growly shout in the darkness: "Who goes there?"
6
Frightened, we snuffed our flashlights, and Billy spun around and sprinted toward home. I shoved the sea glass deep into my pocket and took off after him, twisting my ankle as I ran.
7
It was a full three weeks later before I could ride my bike all the way out to the tip of the peninsula again. When Billy and I knocked on the old woman's door and called out, "Red sea glass!" we heard her positively cackle with delight.
8
The door opened, and her hand shot out. I dropped the red sea glass into her waiting palm, and she snapped it back inside. A few seconds later, she returned to the door with a jar of blue sea glass. That's when I first learned her name.
9
"My name is Rose Standish," she said very properly, holding out two pieces of blue sea glass.
10
"Thank you, Rose Standish," I stammered as her door closed in my face.
11
Until the newspaper article last week reminded me, I hadn't thought about Billy, or Rose, or our sea glass adventure for many, many years. The article reported that one of the jars found in Rose's home contained only red sea glass and a tightly folded-up document, her handwritten will, whereby she directed that all of the red sea glass be appraised by a gemologist. These directions were properly carried out, and all were stunned to discover that every piece of red sea glass in that jar was, in fact, a genuine, uncut ruby, each several carats, and together worth a small fortune.
12
That same afternoon, I took my blue sea glass to a jeweler, and that's when I learned that it was a very large sapphire. How Rose came by such treasure, I will never know, but do I know that life's castoffs will never look the same to me again.
Susan Dickinson, Cricket Magazine, © by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
1
Which of the narrator's actions helps develop the theme that "curiosity leads to discovery"?
A.
his desire to recall the events of his childhood
B.
his reaction to run from the man on the beach
C.
his hunt for the blue sea glass the woman gave him as a child
D.
his decision to search for red sea glass at midnight
1
When Billy came home the following week, I told him I'd promised to find some red sea glass for the old woman, but he said, "Red sea glass doesn't even exist."
2
"That's because it can only be found during low tide at midnight," I said with false conviction.
3
That night, we went to the beach later than I'd ever gone before, and it seemed unnaturally peaceful. We turned on our flashlights and walked down the beach slowly when I suddenly spotted a bright red glint at my feet. I bent to pick it up and held it to the light, exclaiming loudly, "I've got one!"
4
Billy came running over, laughing. "Noooo way!"
5
As I showed it to him, we were suddenly jolted by a man's growly shout in the darkness: "Who goes there?"
6
Frightened, we snuffed our flashlights, and Billy spun around and sprinted toward home. I shoved the sea glass deep into my pocket and took off after him, twisting my ankle as I ran.
7
It was a full three weeks later before I could ride my bike all the way out to the tip of the peninsula again. When Billy and I knocked on the old woman's door and called out, "Red sea glass!" we heard her positively cackle with delight.
8
The door opened, and her hand shot out. I dropped the red sea glass into her waiting palm, and she snapped it back inside. A few seconds later, she returned to the door with a jar of blue sea glass. That's when I first learned her name.
9
"My name is Rose Standish," she said very properly, holding out two pieces of blue sea glass.
10
"Thank you, Rose Standish," I stammered as her door closed in my face.
11
Until the newspaper article last week reminded me, I hadn't thought about Billy, or Rose, or our sea glass adventure for many, many years. The article reported that one of the jars found in Rose's home contained only red sea glass and a tightly folded-up document, her handwritten will, whereby she directed that all of the red sea glass be appraised by a gemologist. These directions were properly carried out, and all were stunned to discover that every piece of red sea glass in that jar was, in fact, a genuine, uncut ruby, each several carats, and together worth a small fortune.
12
That same afternoon, I took my blue sea glass to a jeweler, and that's when I learned that it was a very large sapphire. How Rose came by such treasure, I will never know, but do I know that life's castoffs will never look the same to me again.
Susan Dickinson, Cricket Magazine, © by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
1
Which of the narrator's actions helps develop the theme that "curiosity leads to discovery"?
A.
his desire to recall the events of his childhood
B.
his reaction to run from the man on the beach
C.
his hunt for the blue sea glass the woman gave him as a child
D.
his decision to search for red sea glass at midnight
Answers
GPT-4o mini
D. his decision to search for red sea glass at midnight
This action demonstrates the narrator's curiosity and willingness to seek out something rare and unusual, which ultimately leads to the discovery of the red sea glass and the subsequent revelation of its true value years later.
This action demonstrates the narrator's curiosity and willingness to seek out something rare and unusual, which ultimately leads to the discovery of the red sea glass and the subsequent revelation of its true value years later.