Question

Use the two passages below to answer the question that follows:

Passage 1: Once upon a time in China, there was a young man named Chen who loved to draw. One night, he dreamt that an old woman gave him a magic feather pen and told him to use it to help people. When he woke up, there was a feather pen on the table. Chen picked up the pen and drew some lines. Just like in his dream, the pen needed no ink.

Shortly thereafter, a terrible storm knocked out the bridge that connected the homes in Chen's village from the hills where everyone's livestock grazed. The river was too dangerous to cross any other way, and if the villagers couldn't tend their livestock, they'd wander off. Chen grabbed his pen and drew a picture of the river with a large, safe bridge over it. As soon as he drew it on paper, a bridge appeared over the real river. The villagers were overjoyed and Chen was glad that he could help.

Over the years, Chen continued to help his village in many ways, drawing such things as wells, irrigation ditches, and oxen for plowing. He was well-loved and admired for his selflessness and compassion.

Passage 2: Once upon a time there lived a rich woman who not only refused to share her money with others, but who also refused to spend it on herself. She lived in poverty, like her neighbors-only they had no choice, as they were actually destitute. Years of poor fishing had left the villagers very poor. The woman's name was Miss Heart, but as that was inappropriate given her nature, the villagers referred to her as "the miser."

The miser became mistrustful of the village bank, thinking that they would try to take her money to help the wretched villagers. So, she withdrew all the money and hid it at home. But, then the miser worried that a fire would destroy all her money. So, she took all of her money and spent a week walking to the nearest city to trade it for a huge diamond. When she returned home, the miser immediately buried the diamond in her backyard. "Now I can honestly tell people that I don't have any money," she thought to herself, laughing.

Years passed with the miser digging up her diamond weekly to admire it, but never spending it. The villagers were now skin and bones, but even this did not convince the miser to help. One morning, the miser found that the diamond was missing! She screamed, causing her neighbors to rush over. Upon hearing that the miser's diamond had been stolen, one man suggested that she just bury a rock instead. The miser looked up in disbelief.

"If all you're going to do is keep it in the ground and look at it," said the neighbor, "Then it doesn't matter what it is."

How are the villagers in the stories alike?
a
The villagers in both stories are experiencing adversity.
b
The villagers in both stories are grateful that they were helped.
c
The villagers in both stories stole from the main characters.
d
The villagers in both stories are farmers.

Answer 1

a

In Passage 1 the villagers face danger and loss of access to their livestock after the bridge is destroyed. In Passage 2 the villagers are destitute from poor fishing. Both groups are experiencing adversity.