UNSEEN PROSE
Read the passage and answer the following question
The message was unambiguous: her John was on his way back. For how long had he been gone? Jenny wondered.
She wrung her hands in silent expectation. She stood, turned about, and sat, motionless. She was listening in the silence of the room and looking into the gloom of the unlit room.
She seemed to pull herself together as she rose to her full height, switched on the light and turned on the TV, to no station in particular, selecting no programme at all. She sat in front of the TV, not watching. Her heart was pounding, slowly, she hoisted herself from the armchair and moved towards the kitchen, like one sleepwalking.
She must get some food ready for the sojourner. Her rapid heartbeat did not show in her slow-motion actions. Her cooking done, Jenny was carrying the dish on a tray to the dining table when the doorbell rang. Jenny dropped the tray.
The figure of speech used in she was listening to the silence of the room is
- conceit
- irony
-
oxymoron
- zeugma
The correct answer is: C
Explanation
An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two contradictory terms to create a paradoxical effect.
In the phrase "listening to the silence of the room," the words "listening" (which implies sound) and "silence" (which means the absence of sound) contradict each other. This makes it an oxymoron, as it juxtaposes opposites in a way that creates a striking effect.