Question

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the question that follows.

Answer 1

"The Words of a Child" by T. Tompkins

A long, long time ago, in a castle by the sea, there lived a king and his beautiful daughter. The girl was a beauty, but sadly, she could not or would not
speak. The king worried horribly about her future. Who would marry a mute girl? Would enemies respect a queen who spoke never?

The king offered a handsome reward for any medicine man, sage, knight or wizard that could get the princess to utter her first words. The girl knew what
her father was doing; she also knew he loved her, and he was just trying to help. So in the days following the proclamation announcing the reward, she tolerated the presence of various inhabitants of the kingdom, and their efforts to cajole a word or two out of her.

A court jester did make her giggle with his antics, and she was delighted by his juggling. A lady of the court
made the princess cry by telling a tale of a lost love. A knight demonstrated his swordsmanship, which did indeed make the
princess proud of her father's warriors. Yet she said nothing. All three left feeling sadness because no reward would be collected.

One day, a medicine man came to the palace. The princess was tired, but she obeyed his every direction. He examined her throat, and he bade her
to swallow bitter tea. The princess did so to please her father. The tea made her more sleepy but not in the least talkative. The medicine man told the king, "Sire, I have used all the knowledge I have. I cannot find any medical reason why your daughter cannot speak."
The king sighed, "Your efforts are appreciated and shall not be forgotten."
The medicine man, pleased by the king's words but disappointed in his own failure, bowed and left.

The princess saw her father's expression and retreated to her room where the look in his eyes could not be a dagger in her heart. She thought back to the
day she spoke her first word. She was a slightly vain and demanding child of about four, content to play alone and speak to no one. Naturally no one would criticize the daughter of the king, and besides, even at four, she was so pretty, most paid no attention to the way she behaved.

She was searching for sea shells. She stumbled into an area covered in weeds and course sand. There was a shack with an old woman sitting in a nearly
broken chair.
The old woman saw her and smiled, "Hello little girl, would you like a cookie?"
The child stared at the old woman with two missing teeth, tattered clothes and wrinkled face. The child said one word: "Ugly."
In an instant, a stream of light blinded the child. When she could see again, the pretty girl was looking at her mother, the Queen who had gone to the heavens when the princess was an infant. The princess felt her heart tug, but when she went to say "Mommy," she realized she could not. The queen,
however, could speak.

"My beloved daughter, know that what I do, I do for you not against you. You must learn to see with more than your eyes and to speak with more than your judgment to be a good person and a queen. From this day forward, you shall not speak until someone accepts you exactly as you are, until someone looks beyond your silence, beyond your title and beyond your loveliness into your soul."

The princess brushed a tear away. She was no longer a spoiled, impertinent child. But ever since that day, no one, not even the king, accepted her silence. Everyone wanted her to speak. No one noticed her artwork, or her harp playing, or her learned compassion. People just wanted to fix her. They saw her inability the same way she saw ugliness instead of generosity.

The next day a wizard appeared at the palace. Many villagers thought this would be the day their princess would speak so they gathered into the grand hall to witness, the power of the sorcerer. The wizard touched the princess' throat and waved his hands about her face. There were sparks, there were gasps, there were sounds of winds and thunder: there were no words. Every member of the assembly yelled, "Speak princess, speak!" They were trying to
be encouraging, but all the princess felt was the sound of hundreds demanding her to be more than she was. She felt attacked rather than supported.

A poorly dressed child, who was not shouting, was intrigued by the pretty lady who could not talk. Why did no one see her sadness? See her gentleness?
See her willingness to try? The boy approached the princess and sat on the ground before her. He emptied a bag of marbles on the ground and pulled her
to the floor to play with him. He showed her how to play and spoke to her with no other intention but to help her learn the game. She won. The crowd,
surprised and anxious with anticipation gasped and then moaned when the girl's victory failed to produce a single syllable. Her feelings of joy and relief dwindled when she heard the disappointment of her subjects, but the child seemed not to notice and said simply, "I'll come back to play again tomorrow. I'll teach you to play chess if you like."

The girl nodded excitedly, but the king interrupted, "Son, while your efforts will not be forgotten, you need not return as you have failed to enable

the princess to speak and more of the same will not likely produce a different result."
The child, looking into the princess' blue eyes, answered the King flatly, "I am not coming back to make her talk. I am returning to enjoy her company, to compete against a worthy opponent and a quick learner, and to learn from her how to care so much about the disappointment of others.
I could care less if she ever speaks."

There was no grand display of nature or a transformation of anyone in the palace. The princess merely looked at the boy: she did not see the dusty clothes
or the smudged face; she did not see youthfulness or simplicity. She only felt. She saw in him a future advisor, wisdom beyond years and grace beyond
class. The princess took the young man's hand and said, "Do come back."

The king fainted.

Somewhere in the clouds a queen laughed aloud.

The young girl would become a quiet but well respected and beloved ruler who, by her example, taught her subjects how to see with more than their eyes and to speak with more than words.

Which of the following represents the climax of this story?

a) "A poorly dressed boy, who was not shouting, was intrigued by the pretty lady who could not talk."
b) "The young girl would become a quiet but well respected and beloved ruler who, by her example, taught her subjects how to see with more than one's
eyes and to speak with more than words."
c) "There were sparks, there were gasps, there were sounds of winds and thunder."
d) "The princess took the young man's hand and said, 'Do come back.'"