Which phrase signals uncertainty about the city's condition in The Emigree?

Which phrase signals uncertainty about the city's condition in The Emigree?

• A. The white streets of that city, the graceful slopes glow even clearer
• B. It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants
• C. Nostalgia fills my memory when thinking of the city
• D. The city glows with clear light

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is how memory and distance create doubt about what’s really happening somewhere else. In the line It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, the speaker uses the word may to show possibility rather than fact. As someone in exile looking back, she can’t know for sure what the city’s condition is now, so she hedges her claim. The two options—war or tyranny—highlight danger, but they’re presented as possibilities, not certainties, which signals uncertainty about the city’s current state. By contrast, the other phrases state something definite about the city’s appearance or mood—glow, clear light, and nostalgia—so they convey certainty or strong feeling rather than doubt.

The idea being tested is how memory and distance create doubt about what’s really happening somewhere else. In the line It may be at war, it may be sick with tyrants, the speaker uses the word may to show possibility rather than fact. As someone in exile looking back, she can’t know for sure what the city’s condition is now, so she hedges her claim. The two options—war or tyranny—highlight danger, but they’re presented as possibilities, not certainties, which signals uncertainty about the city’s current state.

By contrast, the other phrases state something definite about the city’s appearance or mood—glow, clear light, and nostalgia—so they convey certainty or strong feeling rather than doubt.