Nights too warm for TV we’re flung outdoors to the porch, citronella candles scenting the space between us, our faces aglow
in gold light. She crowds the card table with coin banks, an *abacus,
five and ten dollar rolling paper,
our tidy ledger.
I count, line the coins in neat rows,
the abacus clicking out our worth,
how much we can save, stack up
against the seasons – winter coming,
her tightly braided hair turning white; her hands quick, filling the paper casings like homemade sausage.
There’s money in the bank downtown, but this we’ll keep at home
buried in jars beneath the house,
the crawl space filling up, packed solid as any foundation.
*a device for making calculations
Natasha Trethewey
21. The activity described in the poem is: (A)Viewing television
(B) Counting money
(C) Playing cards
(D)Making sausages
22. “She” in the poem is most likely :
(A) Economical (B) Miserly
(C) Mercenary (D) Extravagant
23. “She crowds the table” line 5 suggests: (A) She sits close to the card table
(B) Many people sit around the card table (C) There are many card tables
(D)The card table is packed
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24. The comparison between the paper casings and homemade sausages , lines 14-15 , is a reference to:
(A) Weight (B) Colour (C) Shape (D) Quantity
25. The “crawlspace” , line 19, likely refers to: (A)Very slow movement
(B) A large container
(C) The foundation of the house
(D)A low, cramped area
26. The money is being saved to:
(A)Place in the bank downtown
(B) Package in paper casing
(C) Safe guard against need in winter (D)Bury it
27. The phrase “solid as any foundation”, lines 19-20, suggests: (A)What a huge fortune was buried
(B) How secure it made the owners feel
(C) How fragile the jars were
(D)That the foundation needed reinforcement