Read the passage given below and answer the questions: (From 161 to 170) After the cruelest of winters, the house still stood. It was pale, washed clean by elements gone wild, and here there a shutter dangled from a broken hinge. But the structure was sound, the corners had held. I walked around it slowly, studying every detail: the fine edge where window frame met clapboard, the slice of shadow across the roofline, the old wooden railing around the porch. When I climbed the stairs toward the door, I heard the floorboards groan beneath my weight as they had always done. Hello yourself, old friend, I said. Inside, I made those wounds my own again, drew the curtains back, threw open the window, pulled the covers from the furniture, slapped at the upholstery with my hands .. I made myself at home, kicked off my shoes so I could feed the floor beneath my feet again. I tilted my head, read the titles on the spines of all my books. I played old songs I hadn't heard in months, felt the summer music move through me as if my muscles were the strings. It carried me from room to room while I swept away the mustiness of winter, shook the rugs, cleaned cobwebs out of corners, hung laundered linens on the blind to whip dry in the outdoor air. I pulled closed boxes out of closets and unwrapped all my things, slowly, one by one. I held and turned them in my hands before I put them out again on shelves in cupboards and drawers. And when I had each room all full of me again, I showered and washed away the last of winter's claims in hot lather and steam. .... For me, the end of grief was a homecoming like this one, a returning to myself made sweeter by the long separation. I remember well the months that had followed that most unexpected death, when I felt cut loose, caught in my own cold storm far away from all that made me feel at home. I wondered if I would ever again belong to any time or place. People spoke to me of sadness and loss, as if they were burdens to carry in my hands. I nodded in agreement, afraid to tell them that I felt no burdens, only weightlessness. I though the world had pulled itself away from me, that I would drift, beyond reach, forever. But Winter ends and grief does pass as I had reclaimed my house and made it my own again, so I slowly reclaimed my life. I resumed my small daily rituals: a cup of coffee with a friend, long walks at sunset. I felt like myself again, and when I laughed it was my own laugh I heard, rich and full. I had feared that, in my absence, the space that I had left behind would close over from disuse, but I returned to find that my house still stood even after the cruelest of winters.
Which of the following options best sums up the difference between the narrator's perception of her grief and that of the people around her?
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A.
While the people around the narrator saw her loss as a burden to be endured, the narrator experienced it as a lightness of being without any anchors.
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B.
While the people around the narrator saw her loss as a kind of weightlessness, the narrator experienced it as a burden to be carried in her hands.
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C.
While the people around the narrator saw her grief as a burden, the narrator experienced it as fear of the people around her.
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D.
While most people around the narrator were indifferent to her grief, the narrator saw it as a permanent loss that she would never be able to overcome.
Correct Answer:
A. While the people around the narrator saw her loss as a burden to be endured, the narrator experienced it as a lightness of being without any anchors.
Explanation:
The narrator perceived her grief as a liberating sensation, unburdened by attachments, while those around her viewed her loss as a hardship to be endured. Therefore, option (a) accurately describes the contrast in their perceptions.
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