Home › STAAR EOC English I › English › Reading Comprehension: Short Fiction › Read these lines: "I have been around the world …
Read these lines: "I have been around the world twelve times, said he. I know an Esquimau in Upernavik who sends to Cincinnati for his neckties. It is a mighty little old world. What is the use of bragging about being from the North, or the South, or the old manor house in the dale, or Pike s Peak, or Fairfax County, or any place?" As used in the quoted lines, a "cosmopolite" is a person who
Akeeps careful count of the miles he has travelled
Bprefers the customs of one country to all others
Cclaims the whole world instead of any one place
Dmoves house whenever a better offer comes along
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. claims the whole world instead of any one place
1. The speaker treats the globe as small and familiar, naming places on opposite sides of it in one breath.
2. He then asks what use there is in bragging about coming from any particular corner of it.
3. Refusing every local claim while claiming the whole is option C.
4. Option A makes the word mean a record of distance, but he counts places in order to dismiss them, not to total them.
5. Option B is the opposite, since preferring one country is exactly the habit he attacks.
_Source: O. Henry, The Four Million (1906), public domain_
Related questions
Read these lines: "And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you note the peculiar coRead these lines: "It read in this fashion: THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED. We surveyeRead these lines about the terms of a post: "Well, you have to be in the office, or at leaRead these lines: "I used to be able to keep two assistants, but now I only keep one; and Read these lines: "With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I yelleRead these lines about an assistant: "Never was such a fellow for photography. Snapping awRead these lines: "Our visitor bore every mark of being an average commonplace British traRead these lines from a newspaper notice: "There is now another vacancy open which entitle