Read the following passage from Heart of Darkness carefully before you choose your answer. (1) "I went to work the next day, turning, so to speak, my back on that station. (2) In that way only it seemed to me I could keep my hold on the redeeming facts of life. (3) Still, one must look about sometimes; and then I saw this station, these men strolling aimlessly about in the sunshine of the yard. (4) I asked myself sometimes what it all meant. (5) They wandered here and there with their absurd long staves in their hands, like a lot of faithless pilgrims bewitched inside a rotten fence. (6) The word 'ivory' rang in the air, was whispered, was sighed. (7) You would think they were praying to it. (8) A taint of imbecile rapacity blew through it all, like a whiff from some corpse. (9) By Jove! I've never seen anything so unreal in my life. (10) And outside, the silent wilderness surrounding this cleared speck on the earth struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.

(11) "Oh, these months! Well, never mind. (12) Various things happened. (13) One evening a grass shed full of calico, cotton prints, beads, and I don't know what else, burst into a blaze so suddenly that you would have thought the earth had opened to let an avenging fire consume all that trash. (14) I was smoking my pipe quietly by my dismantled steamer, and saw them all cutting capers in the light, with their arms lifted high, when the stout man with moustaches came tearing down to the river, a tin pail in his hand, assured me that everybody was 'behaving splendidly, splendidly,' dipped about a quart of water and tore back again. (15) I noticed there was a hole in the bottom of his pail.

1.The narrator most likely includes the description in sentences 5 through 7 ("They wandered … praying to it") to

contrast the manner in which the Europeans and Africans perceive value
emphasize the death and destruction caused by the ivory trade
foreshadow the obliteration of the shed in the second paragraph
highlight the fact that the Africans live in fear of the Europeans
underscore the devotion paid by all to a tangible commodity

2.The narrator's point of view presents the series of events described in the second paragraph as

a concerned superior
a detached observer
an active participant
an intelligent manager
a perceptive administrator

3. In the first paragraph, the river is best described as

a challenge to be overcome by Marlow and the pilgrims
a contrast to Kurtz's declining mental and physical status
a foil to prevent the station men from exiting the jungle
an image Marlow uses to reveal his impending doom
a symbol of Kurtz's swift and inevitable demise

4. In context, Marlow's statement in sentence 3 ("I saw the time … unsound method") can best be interpreted to mean

he believes that Kurtz's methods will be judged fairly by the company
he fears that he will be left to answer for Kurtz's brutal behavior
he suspects that Kurtz has come to regret the methods he used in the jungle
he thinks that the natives are now fearful of Kurtz, the man they once worshipped
he worries that the manager will condemn him for not rescuing Kurtz in time

5. Sentence 13 ("But both … success and power") best illustrates Marlow's perception that

Kurtz's accomplishments were nothing more than a pretense
Kurtz is a self-absorbed man who values his ownership of people and objects
Kurtz is still, despite his cruelty and selfishness, a great and powerful man
Kurtz knows he is about to die and regrets most of his cruel behavior
Kurtz's misguided perception of his own greatness is slipping away