Question

adapted from madame bovary
by gustave flaubert
she thought, sometimes, that, after all, this was the happiest time
of her life—the honeymoon, as people called it. to taste the full
sweetness of it, it would have been necessary doubtless to fly to
those lands with thundering names where the days after marriage
are full of laziness most pleasant. it seemed to her that
certain places on earth must bring happiness, as a plant peculiar
to the soil, and that cannot thrive elsewhere. why could not she
lean over balconies in swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy
in a scotch cottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat
with long tails, and thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills? perhaps
she would have liked to confide all these things to someone. but
how tell an undefinable uneasiness, variable as the clouds,
unstable as the winds? words failed her—the opportunity, the
courage

if charles had but wished it, if he had guessed it, if his look had
but once met her thought, it seemed to her that a sudden
generosity would have gone out from her heart, as the fruit falls
from a tree when shaken by a hand. but as the familiarity of their
life became deeper, the greater became the gulf that separated
her from him.

charles’s conversation was commonplace as a street pavement,
and everyone’s ideas trooped through it in their everyday garb,
without exciting emotion, laughter, or thought. he had never had
the curiosity, he said, while he lived at rouen, to go to the theater
to see the

b
select the correct answer.
which detail from the passage best supports the idea of disappointment?

a. it seemed to her that certain places on earth must bring happiness, as a plant peculiar to the soil, and that
cannot thrive elsewhere.

b. why could not she lean over balconies in swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a scotch cottage, with a
husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails, and thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills?

c. to taste the full sweetness of it, it would have been necessary doubtless to fly to those lands with thundering
names where the days after marriage are full of laziness most pleasant.

d. but how tell an undefinable uneasiness, variable as the clouds, unstable as the winds?

Explanation:

To determine which detail supports disappointment, we analyze each option:

• Option A: Discusses the idea that certain places bring happiness, not disappointment.
• Option B: The character laments not being able to experience romantic, idealized scenarios (leaning over balconies in Swiss chalets, having a husband in a specific attire) which reflects unmet desires and disappointment.
• Option C: Talks about the honeymoon's sweetness and ideal places, not disappointment.
• Option D: Describes uneasiness but not directly disappointment from unmet expectations like Option B.

Answer:

B. Why could not she lean over balconies in Swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a Scotch cottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails, and thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills?