Question

from the old things
1 i had daily observed, over my stone wall, a very old gentleman in his shirt sleeves, who pleasantly gave me the role of spectator. a new - englander of the elder type, with the heavy bent head of the thinker; but, particularly, with the piercing yet so kindly humorous blue eye that loses none of its colour with age, but seems to grow more vivid and vital with the same years that steal from the hair its hue of life and from the walnut cheek its glowing red.
2 such an eye, to a lawyer like myself, accustomed to look for a human document in every human face, seemed the very epitome of eighty years: a carefree boyhood among contemporaries - in house furnishings, in barn and pigsty, orchard and gardens, a youth that sees already a new generation in most of these companions of his earthly pilgrimage; a middle age, forced out of the romantic sense of companionship on the road, into the persistent and finally triumphant view of using environment for ends of its own; and then old age, free to return and lavish forgotten endearments upon the “old things,” this or the other “landmark,” dear, and familiar from life’s beginnings.
in paragraph 2, the narrator says the gentleman seemed the very epitome of eighty years.
what does the phrase seemed the very epitome of eighty years mean in the passage?

1. seemed to be the ideal example of an eighty - year - old
2. seemed to be the exact opposite of an eighty - year - old
3. seemed to have new experiences as an eighty - year - old
4. seemed to have few expectations as an eighty - year - old

Explanation:

The word "epitome" means a perfect example or embodiment. So "the very epitome of eighty - years" means being the ideal example of an eighty - year - old.

Answer:

1. seemed to be the ideal example of an eighty year - old