Question

I move
Perhaps I have wakened
This is a bed
This is a room
5 And there is light . . .

Darkness!

Have I performed
The dozen acts or so
That make me the man
10 Men see?

The door opens,
And on the landing
Quiet
I see nothing but the blinding pain
15 The ceaseless weariness!

Stairs, banisters, a handrail,
All indistinguishable from one another
One step farther down or up
But up is harder
20 And I stumble
Down, down, down to this white blur
As it gives out before me.

Me?

I extend all ways
25 Flailing about
A desperate attempt to right myself
I fit into the walls and they pull me.

Light?

Light, I know it is light!

30 Stillness and then
Something moves
Green, oh green, dazzling lightning
And elation
This is my room
35 There are my books
There the piano
There the final bar I wrote
There the last line
And oh the sunlight!

2
Which lines from the passage best develop the theme that lack of control is dangerous?
A.
lines 28–31
B.
lines 11–15
C.
lines 7–10
D.
lines 20–25

Answer 1

D

Lines 20–25 describe stumbling, falling ("Down, down, down…") and "Flailing about" — a clear loss of physical control that creates a dangerous situation.