Question

midterm review
selection 1: \the passing of the hours\ by ella higginson
the hours steal (1) by with still (2), unasking lips-
so lightly that i cannot hear their tread;
and softly touch me with their finger - tips
to find if i be dreaming, or be dead.
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and yet however still their flight may be,
their ceaseless going weights my heart with tears;
these touches will have wrought deep scars on me-
when the light hours have worn to heavy years.

1. steal move quietly or surreptitiously
2. still quiet

selection 2: \life\ by edith wharton
life, like a marble block, is given to all,
a blank, inchoate (1) mass of years and days,
whence one with ardent chisel swift essays (2)
some shape of strength or symmetry to call;
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one shatters it in bits to mend a wall;
one in a craftier hand the chisel lays,
and one, to wake the mirth in lesbias (3) gaze,
carves it apace in toys fantastical.
but least is he who, with enchanted eyes
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filled with high visions of fair shapes to be,
muses which god he shall immortalize
in the proud parians (4) perpetuity,
till twilight warns him from the punctual skies
that the night cometh wherein none shall see.

1. inchoate - only partially developed; imperfectly formed
2. essays - tries; attempts
3. lesbia - roman poet gaius valerius catullus wrote love poems to a woman he called
4. parian - type of white marble mined on the greek island of paros
5. read the following lines from \the passing of the hours.\

the hours steal by with still, unasking lips-
so lightly that i cannot hear their tread;
and softly touch me with their finger - tips
to find if i be dreaming, or be dead.
which statement accurately paraphrases the figurative meaning of these lines?
a. time passes virtually unnoticed when one leads a quiet life.
b. time is a thief that steals a persons most important memories.
c. time is tricky, always attempting to sneak by to scare someone.
d. time passes silently, afraid of waking a sleeping person.

Explanation:

In the lines from "The Passing of the Hours", the hours are personified as being quiet and stealthy, passing by so softly that the speaker doesn't notice. This implies that time passes unnoticed when one's life is quiet. Option A correctly paraphrases this figurative meaning. Option B is about time stealing memories which isn't in these lines. Option C about time trying to scare someone is not indicated. Option D about time being afraid of waking a sleeping person is an over - interpretation.

Answer:

A. Time passes virtually unnoticed when one leads a quiet life.