Question

i spent one spring semester teaching english in hamburg, germany. there i walked almost every day from my apartment near the university to the beautiful promenade along the banks of alster lake, where i strolled through the crowds of lovers and families. i was savoring leaves of grass that spring. every step i took—on the cement sidewalks of the side streets lined with impeccably kept apartment buildings, and on the white gravel paths of the park with its manicured greens, white benches, and the lake beyond—seemed, somehow, blessed by the loving sagacity and the soaring verbal beauty of whitmans poetry. “who was not proud of his songs, but of the measureless ocean of love within him—and freely pourd it forth . . . ” i feel full of that “measureless ocean of love” every spring. but those spring days on the alster with walt whitman helped me to recognize and name that feeling. one spring i commuted weekly by plane from my home in connecticut to a writer - in - residence position in tennessee. i experienced a double spring that year, and recognized for the first time how clearly chronological the sequence of spring is. as infants follow an almost invariable sequence of development, so spring unfolds with its own inevitability. i would fly out of hartford as the crocuses were starting, and arrive in nashville to a riot of daffodils. i would fly out of hartford as daffodils were assembling their noisy parades, and arrive in nashville to see stately individual tulips. but tennessee trumped connecticut late in the season, with its redbud trees. after their season i was too exhausted from all that flying to be able to notice what flowered next. ive never memorized the sequence of flowerings. im sure gardeners know of its predictable clockwork. here, it starts with circles of green and white crocuses growing among last years snow. then circles of daffodils. then circles of tulips. then the lilacs. then the peonies. then the roses. then the irises. then the day - lilies. then the asters. then the chrysanthemums. then the snow. in paragraph 4, the author states that she feels a “measureless ocean of love” in springtime. which detail from the passage best supports this statement? 1. “though im still dug in for the solitary connecticut winter, i can sense the approach of spring.” (paragraph 2) 2. “the last few days ive heard birds calling from the thicket, and thought, ‘oh, springs coming! and done a little internal dance.’” (paragraph 2) 3. “i remember several past springs. when i was teaching in northfield, minnesota, i took my irish setter, piper, for several long walks every day.” (paragraph 3) 4. “i am not a gardener, and i tend to walk through my days in a kind of absent - minded professor obliviousness.” (paragraph 6)

Explanation:

We need to find which detail from the passage best supports the statement about the author's "measureless ocean of love" in spring - time. Option 3 mentions the author's past springs in Minnesota while teaching, which shows her connection and love for spring - time. Other options do not directly relate to the feeling of love for spring - time.

Answer:

1. "I remember several past springs. When I was teaching in Northfield, Minnesota, I took my Irish setter, Piper, for several long walks every day." (Paragraph 3)