Question

madame bovary
by gustave flaubert (adapted excerpt)
she thought, sometimes, that, after all, this was the happiest time of her life —the honeymoon, as people called it. to taste the full sweetness of it, it would have been necessary to fly to those lands with thundering names where the days after marriage are full of that laziness most pleasant. in post beds behind blue silken curtains to ride slowly up steep road, listening to the song of the postilion re - echoed by the mountains, along with the bells of goats and the muffled sound of a waterfall; at sunset on the shores of gulfs to breathe in the perfume of lemon trees; then in the evening on the villa - terraces above, hand in hand to look at the stars, making plans for the future. it seemed to her that certain places on earth must bring happiness, as a plant peculiar to the soil, and that cannot thrive elsewhere. why could not she lean over balconies in swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a scotch cottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails, and thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills? perhaps she would have liked to confide all these things to someone. but how tell an undefinable uneasiness, variable as the clouds, unstable as the winds? words failed her —the opportunity, the courage.
if charles had but wished it, if he had guessed it, if his look had but once met her thought, it seemed to her that a sudden plenty would have gone out from her heart, as the fruit falls from a tree when shaken by a hand. but as the familiarity of their life became deeper, the greater became the gulf that separated her from him.
charles’s conversation was commonplace as a street pavement, and everyone’s ideas trooped through it in their everyday garb, without exciting emotion, laughter, or thought. he had never had the curiosity, he said, while he lived at rouen, to go to the theater to see the actors from paris. he could neither swim, nor fence, nor shoot, and one day he could not explain some
3
select the correct answer.
which detail from the passage best reveals that charles is considered boring by his wife?
a. charles’s conversation was as common as street pavement.
b. charles could not explain a term of horsemanship to her.
c. charles seemed to be unaware of her thoughts and feelings.
d. charles and her were very familiar with each others lives.
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Explanation:

To determine which detail shows Charles is considered boring by his wife, we analyze each option:

• Option A compares Charles's conversation to street pavement, implying it's ordinary and uninteresting, directly suggesting he is boring.
• Option B focuses on his inability to explain a horsemanship term, which is more about knowledge than being boring.
• Option C is about him being unaware of her thoughts, related to emotional disconnection rather than boringness.
• Option D states they are familiar with each other's lives, which doesn't imply boredom.

So, Option A best reveals he is considered boring.

Answer:

A. Charles’s conversation was as common as street pavement.