Question

select the verbal irony in the passage.
my father, a fireman, had discouraged me from learning anything about the workings of the internal - combustion engine. when i said i wanted to learn how cars worked, he said, \its easy. ill tell you everything you need to know. you put the key in the ignition and you turn it.\
thanks, dad. to his credit, he had also advised me to cultivate a mechanic at a local gas station. but out in the vermont countryside there were no gas stations — just a pump at marbles store, where you could leave the keys in the car and marble would move it if it was in the way.
from mary norris, \holy writ.\ copyright 2015 by condé nast

Explanation:

Verbal irony occurs when a speaker says something that is the opposite of what they really mean or when the statement is sarcastic. In the passage, the father, a fireman, says "It's easy. I'll tell you everything you need to know. You put the key in the ignition and you turn it" in response to the narrator wanting to learn how cars work. This is ironic because knowing just to put the key in the ignition and turn it is not "everything you need to know" about how cars work, and the father is being sarcastic or misleading in his response, which fits the definition of verbal irony.

Answer:

"It's easy. I'll tell you everything you need to know. You put the key in the ignition and you turn it."