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Passage
As Ruchira is packing her apartment while preparing to move in with her new husband, Biren, she reflects
on the first time he saw her artwork.
(1) He'd moved close to the wall and was standing very still. (2) It took her a moment to figure out that he
was examining her brushstrokes. (3) (But only artists did that. (4) Was he a closet artist, too?) (5) Finally he
moved back and let out a long, incredulous breath, and it struck her that she had been holding hers as
well. (6) "Tell me about your work," he said.
(7) This was hard. (8) She had started painting two years ago, and had never talked to anyone about it. (9)
Even her parents didn't know. (10) When they came for dinner, she removed the canvases from the wall
and hid them in her closet. (11) She sprayed the room with Eucalyptus Mist and lit incense sticks so they
wouldn't smell the turpentine. (12) The act of painting was the first really risky thing she had done in her
life. (13) Being at the gallery, she knew how different her work was from everything in there, or in the
glossy art journals. (14) Her technique was crude-she hadn't taken classes and didn't intend to. (15) She
would probably never amount to much. (16) Still, she came back from work every evening and painted
furiously. (17) She worked late into the night, light-headed with the effort to remember. (18) She stopped
inviting people over. (19) She made excuses when her friends wanted her to go out. (20) She had to force
herself to return their calls, and often she didn't. (21) She ruined canvas after canvas, slashed them in
frustration and threw them into the Dumpster behind the building. (22) She wept till she saw a blurry
brightness, like sunspots, wherever she looked. (23) Then, miraculously, she got better. (24) Sometimes
now, at 2:00 or 3:00, her back muscles tight and burning, a stillness would rise around her, warm and
vaporous. (25) Held within it, she would hear, word for word, the stories her grandmother used to tell.
From Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Unknown Errors of Our Lives. ©2001 by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.
Question
Based on the passage, which of the following best characterizes the outlook of Ruchira's parents on their
daughter's interest in painting?
O They vocally objected to it.
O They admired her commitment to it.
O They were unaware of it.
C They reluctantly accepted it