과천외고 1학년 영미문학: 인물의 침묵은 무엇을 말하고 무엇을 말하지 않는가 실전문제

'You can take the seat,' Ben said, pointing to the only chair by the window. Lina did not answer. She moved her notebook from the chair, looked toward the doorway, and placed her folded coat on the floor. A moment later, her grandfather entered with a cane. Lina pulled the chair toward him and opened her notebook on the windowsill.

'Will you sell the old boat?' Ewan asked. His mother rubbed a patch of missing paint and said nothing. Ewan imagined the boat leaving the harbor. That afternoon she carried two brushes and a tin of paint down to the water. 'You can start with this side,' she told him. The advertisement form remained blank on the kitchen table.

I asked Nessa why she had kept the broken clock. She watched its motionless hands and did not answer. I decided that she was unable to let go of the past. Then she lifted the clock, took a small brass key from the space behind it, and handed it to the new tenant. 'The drawer sticks,' she said. 'Turn it gently.' I had not known there was a key.

When the committee asked who had repaired the stage curtain, Owen lowered his eyes and let the silence lengthen. I thought he wanted someone else to claim the work. Later, after the audience had gone, I found him removing a bright thread from the curtain's edge. 'It catches the light,' he said. In the empty hall he showed the youngest apprentice how to hide the knot, then waited while she tried again. He did not mention the committee. I still could not tell whether the public question had embarrassed him, but I no longer thought his silence meant indifference to the work.