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Read these lines: "You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been. I do not know that the relation of my disasters will be useful to you." What does the speaker mean by a serpent to sting you?
AThat a rival will betray you at sea
BThat snakes are common in cold lands
CThat wisdom is always won too slowly
DThat getting what you want can wound you
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. That getting what you want can wound you
1. 1. The serpent is attached to a particular thing: the gratification of your wishes.
2. 2. Gratification means getting what is wished for, so it is success and not failure that is being described.
3. 3. A sting is an injury, so success is being pictured as something that can injure.
4. 4. He adds as mine has been, so he is speaking from his own case rather than warning about other people.
5. 5. No rival appears in the lines, ruling out option B.
6. 6. A real snake in a cold land makes no sense of the word gratification, ruling out option C.
_Source: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)_
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