Question 181
MediumOriginal questionOne dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent of that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles .
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and —something just a little bit near to being of the honour of being owned by Jim.
What is Della's problem in the passage?
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The last paragraph says that tomorrow would be Christmas, and "she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present".
She had saved for months, and wanted something "fine and rare" for him.
Worth noting
Nothing is lost or stolen. The problem is that her careful saving has come to so little.
- Concept
- Identifying a character's problem
- Typical timeTypical
- 45 s
- Your timeYours
- —
Ten questions from Literary passages, at your own pace.