Read the following passage from a short story:
The office of the firm sat at the rear of the second floor, looking out upon a narrow, bricked courtyard where the sun never quite succeeded in penetration. Even on this midsummer afternoon, the gas jets hissed against the gloom, casting a flickering, greenish pallor over the rows of ledgers stacked like heavy gravestones along the wall. Mr. Pendelton sat at his mahogany desk, which was polished to a mirror-like shine that reflected nothing but the dark tin ceiling above. Outside, the steady, rhythmic clanging of the ironworks two streets over vibrated through the floorboards, a relentless heartbeat that seemed to dictate the speed of his pen. Occasionally, a soot-heavy breeze would stir the lace curtains, bringing with it the dry, metallic scent of coal dust and scorched iron. Mr. Pendelton did not look up; he merely shifted his wrist to avoid the smudge of graphite on his cuff, his fingers moving with the precise, mechanical rhythm of a clockwork wheel. The room was cool, almost cold, preserved in its tomb-like stasis against the sweltering heat of the industrial city outside.
Which of the following best describes the relationship between the physical details of the office setting and Mr. Pendelton's internal state?
- AThe green-lit gloom and the soot-heavy breeze demonstrate the literal lack of modern ventilation and lighting in early twentieth-century urban workplaces.
- BThe ledgers stacked like gravestones convey the author's personal grief over the loss of historical record-keeping methods in the face of industrial progress.
- The oppressive, tomb-like atmosphere and the mechanical rhythm of the external ironworks reflect Mr. Pendelton's total assimilation into a lifeless and sterile routine.Cevap
- DThe contrast between the sweltering heat outside and the cool office inside outlines the chronological progression of Mr. Pendelton's daily tasks.
- EThe polished mahogany desk reflecting only the ceiling indicates that Mr. Pendelton finds a sense of profound peace and self-reflection in his isolated environment.