It had been a long morning for Julia. She'd been woken up early by the sound of lawn mowers outside her window, and despite her best efforts, had been unable to get back to sleep. So, she'd reluctantly got out of bed, showered, and prepared her morning cup of coffee. At least, she tried to anyway. In the kitchen she'd discovered she was out of regular coffee and had to settle for a decaffeinated cup instead.
Once on the road, her caffeine-free mug of coffee didn't help make traffic less annoying. In fact, it seemed to Julia like the other drivers were sluggish and surly as well—it took her an extra fifteen minutes to get to work. And when she arrived, all the parking spots were full.
By the time she'd finally found a spot in the overflow lot, she was thirty minutes late for work. She'd hoped her boss would be too busy to notice, but he'd already put a pile of paperwork on her desk with a note that simply said “Rewrite.†She wondered if she should point out to her boss that she hadn't been the one to write the reports in the first place, but decided against it.
When the fire alarm went off an hour later, Julia decided she'd had enough. She grabbed her purse and headed outside with her coworkers. While everyone else stood around waiting for the alarm to quiet, Julia determinedly walked to her car, fired up the engine, and set a course for home.
Why did Julia not return to work after the alarm?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The most likely reason Julia did not return to work after the alarm is that she got stuck in traffic and could not get back to her office. The extract provides details about Julia's challenging morning, starting from being woken up early by lawn mowers, having a caffeine-free cup of coffee, facing traffic delays, arriving late at work, and receiving additional work from her boss. These events culminated in Julia deciding to leave after the fire alarm, indicating that being stuck in traffic was the primary reason for her absence. Choices A, B, and D are incorrect because there is no direct evidence in the provided extract to support them. Julia's actions suggest that her decision to leave was more related to external factors like traffic issues rather than internal feelings of embarrassment, tiredness, or being given time off by her boss.
Nokea