"It's our new neighbors." Mr. Watson said and rolled his eyes. "They evidently like to watch high-action movies all day on that giant flat-screen TV that I saw them unload. I should've known that thing would bring us grief."
Just then, Elsa's little brother Jimmy walked in, plugging his ears. "Jeez!" he yelled. "Do we have to listen to this?"
Mr. Watson set out a plate of cookies for his kids as he spoke. "I went down there earlier to say "howdy" and asked if they could keep the volume a bit lower. I guess this is their idea of 'lower.' It's a young couple, named Sid and Rita, and they said they work nights and hang out at home during the day."
"When do they sleep?" Elsa asked, her head pounding with the booming noise from below.
"They don't need sleep," Mr. Watson joked. "They're young."
"Why couldn't our old neighbors, the Bowers, have stayed here and not moved to Florida?" Jimmy whined.
By dinnertime, the noise had stopped. Elsa was relishing the quiet, but she knew it would only start up again the next day.
"Hey, where's Mom?" Elsa asked her dad as they were sitting down at the dining table.
But before he could answer, in she walked, carrying a brown paper bag and grinning.
"I think I have the answer to our little noise problem," Mrs. Watson said as she kissed her kids on top of their heads. And from the bag, she produced not one but two boxes from the local electronics store. "Headphones," she announced, "his and hers. Thought I'd bring them cookies tomorrow and these little housewarming gifts."
"You mean house-quieting gifts, don't you?" Mr. Watson said. "It's brilliant, my dear, just brilliant."
9
What can the reader tell about the Watsons' previous neighbors, the Bowers?
A.
Mrs. Watson gets them headphones.
B.
Jimmy doesn't like them very much.
C.
They are much quieter people.
D.
They will soon be returning to the area.
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Inferences and Generalizations in Literature
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1 answer
The correct answer is:
C. They are much quieter people.
This inference can be made from the contrast presented in the text between the current noisy neighbors, Sid and Rita, and the previous neighbors, the Bowers, whom Jimmy wishes had not moved away. The implication is that the Bowers were quieter, making the current situation more frustrating for the Watson family.
