The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller (excerpt)
[1] Just before the Perkins Institution closed for the summer, it was arranged that my teacher and I should spend our vacation at Brewster, on Cape
Cod, with our dear friend, Mrs. Hopkins. I was delighted, for my mind was full of the prospective joys and of the wonderful stories I had heard about the
sea.
[2] My most vivid recollection of that summer is the ocean. I had always lived far inland and had never had so much as a whiff of salt air; but I had
read in a big book called "Our World" a description of the ocean which filled me with wonder and an intense longing to touch the mighty sea and feel it
roar. So my little heart leaped high with eager excitement when I knew that my wish was at last to be realized.
[3] No sooner had I been helped into my bathing-suit than I sprang out upon the warm sand and without thought of fear plunged into the cool water. I
felt the great billows rock and sink. The buoyant motion of the water filled me with an exquisite, quivering joy. Suddenly my ecstasy gave place to
terror, for my foot struck against a rock and the next instant there was a rush of water over my head.... The waves seemed to be playing a game with
me, and tossed me from one to another in their wild frolic. It was fearful! The good, firm earth had slipped from my feet, and everything seemed shut
out from this strange, all-enveloping element-life, air, warmth and love. At last, however, the sea, as if weary of its new toy, threw me back on the
shore, and in another instant I was clasped in my teacher's arms.... As soon as I had recovered from my panic sufficiently to say anything, I
demanded: "Who put salt in the water?"
[4] After I had recovered from my first experience in the water, I thought it great fun to sit on a big rock in my bathing-suit and feel wave after wave
2
Select the correct answer.
How does the author connect her points in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the narrative?
OA. by explaining that the ocean was a teacher for her much like her own teacher was
OB. by describing how the ocean waves first soothed her and then threatened her life
OC. by explaining how the ocean's buoyant motion described her personal journey through life
OD. by describing the varying characteristics of the ocean waves and their impact on her
