The worst days of any summer are the rainy ones. We spend all year looking forward to nice weather and long, hot days. All of winter, with its dreary gray days and bitter cold, we dream of those endless days at the beach, laying on the sand and soaking in the bright and burning sun. And then, summer comes, and it rains. As a child, I would wake up to rainy summer days and come close to crying. It wasn’t fair. We suffered through months of miserable weather for those scant ten weeks of freedom and balmy weather. Any day that I could not spend at the beach or playing ball with my friends seemed like a punishment for something I didn’t even do. On those rainy summer days, I had nothing fun to do and could only sit inside, staring out at the rain like a Dickensian orphan. I was an only child, so there was no one else to play with. My father worked from home, so I was not truly alone, but he could not actively play with me since he was technically at work. It was those days that I would resign myself to whatever was on television or any books that I could find lying around. I’d crawl through the day and pray each night that the rain would not be there the next day. As an adult, though, my opinion of summer rain has changed. When you have to work every day, summer is not as eagerly anticipated. Mostly, the days run together, bleeding into each other so that they no longer seem like separate entities and instead feel like continuations of the same long day. Everything seems monotonous and dull, and an ennui or listlessness kicks in. Such a mindset makes you cheer for anything new or different. I spend the winter dreaming of summer and the summer dreaming of winter. When summer comes, I complain about how hot it is. And then I look forward to the rain, because the rain brings with it a cold front, which offers a reprieve—admittedly one that is all too short—from the torture of 100° and humid days. Rainy days are still the worst days of the summer, but summer rain today means positively beautiful—and considerably cooler—weather tomorrow.
1) The passage makes use of language that is A. metaphorical B. rhetorical C. formal D. ambiguous
2) According to the passage, summer is different for adults because A. rain brings with it cold temperatures for the following days B. the weather is much warmer than it is for children C. they do not get a long time off from work for the season D. they better know how to occupy their downtime
3) According to the passage, which of the following is a true statement about the narrator as a child? A. He or she was often bored on summer days. B. He or she preferred cooler weather. C. He or she liked staying indoors. D. He or she had no siblings.
4) Compared to how he or she was as a child, the narrator as an adult is A. more realistic B. less excitable C. more idealistic D. less calm
5) As used in the final paragraph, the word reprieve most nearly means A. a permanent conclusion B. a short continuation C. a higher level of pain D. a temporary break
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