Question

a pair of silk stockings is an 1897 short story by kate chopin. in the story, mrs. sommers is depicted as sometimes making decisions without conscious deliberation. which quotation from a pair of silk stockings most effectively illustrates this claim? a. “she handed the girl a five - dollar bill and waited for her change and for her parcel. what a very small parcel it was!” b. “she had no time, no second of time to devote to the past. the needs of the present absorbed her every faculty.” c. “she was not thinking at all. she seemed for the time to be taking a rest from that laborious and fatiguing function and to have abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility.” d. “mrs. sommers selected a black pair and looked at them very long and closely. she pretended to be examining their texture, which the clerk assured her was excellent.”

Explanation:

The question asks which quotation from "A Pair of Silk Stockings" most effectively illustrates Mrs. Sommers making decisions without conscious deliberation. Option B shows her taking a "leap from laborious and fatiguing function and having abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility", indicating impulsive, non - deliberative decision - making.

Answer:

B. "She was not thinking at all. She seemed for the time to be taking a leap from laborious and fatiguing function and having abandoned herself to some mechanical impulse that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility."