Question

Read the excerpt from Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy.

Together they climbed up to the center of the island, where the trees were thick and high. She showed him the graves, and they stood quietly together and were careful where they set their feet. Then back up the shore and to the south end of the island, where shingled one- and two-room houses clamped themselves to the rocks like oysters, glad to be there and not needing anyone's say-so. In front of almost all of them was a dory or two, some overturned, some pulled up long ago for caulking or patching. Near them, half-moon lobster traps bleached under the heat of the sun, the salt dried to white streaks along their boards, their rope netting stiff and a bit ragged. High dune grass hid the paths up to the houses—in fact, almost hid the chopping block one man was using to split his cordwood.

Which details of daily life in coastal Maine hint that the story takes place in a past era? Select two answers.

together they climbed up to the center of the island
she showed him the graves and they stood quietly together
one- and two-room houses clamped themselves to the rocks
high dune grass hid the paths up to the houses
the chopping block one man was using to split his cordwood

Answer 1

- "one- and two-room houses clamped themselves to the rocks" — suggests an older, simpler style of housing typical of an earlier era.
- "the chopping block one man was using to split his cordwood" — shows manual, pre-modern methods of preparing fuel (no power tools), hinting at the past.