UPCAT Reading Comprehension practice question 15: The final sentence is most significant because it shows that
Correct answer
C. her mother's response has undone the preparation Delia relied on
Delia rehearsed for three weeks in order to manage the conversation. Being met with understanding rather than resistance removes the pressure the speech was built against.
The Last Bus
Delia had rehearsed the sentence for three weeks. She would say it at the terminal, where the noise would carry half of it away and her mother would have to lean in, and leaning in would soften whatever came next.
But her mother arrived early, and she arrived with food. Two plastic bags of it, still warm, arranged in the order Delia would want to eat them. She set them on the bench and did not sit down.
"Manila is not far," her mother said, before Delia had opened her mouth. "Four hours. Less, if the road is clear."
Delia looked at the bags. Someone had woken at three in the morning to make what was inside them.
"I was going to explain," she said.
"I know what you were going to say." Her mother finally sat, smoothing her skirt with both hands, the way she did before difficult conversations at church. "I said the same thing to my mother. She let me finish. It took me eleven minutes." She looked up. "Go on, then. I will not interrupt."
And Delia, who had rehearsed for three weeks, found she could not remember the first line.
The question
The final sentence is most significant because it shows that
- Option A: Delia has changed her mind about leaving
- Option B: Delia has forgotten why she came to the terminal
- Option C: her mother's response has undone the preparation Delia relied onCorrect
- Option D: the bus has arrived earlier than expected
Why C is correct
Delia rehearsed for three weeks in order to manage the conversation. Being met with understanding rather than resistance removes the pressure the speech was built against.