The comparison between ships and gulls adds to the development of the following passage (paragraphs 4-5) mainly by explaining that .
We watched until the boats became a row of tiny white gulls on the horizon. Our vigil would end when they slipped over the edge and disappeared. You had to squint against the glare to keep them sighted, and with every blink you expected the last white speck to be gone.
But this time they didn’t disappear. They kept floating out there, suspended, as if the horizon had finally become what it always seemed to be from shore: the sea’s limit beyond which no man could sail. They floated a while, then they began to grow, tiny gulls becoming boats again, a white armada cruising toward us.
Answer choices for the above question
a
government ships are not intimidating in the distance
b
the boats are harmless
c
gulls usually occupy the horizon when the boats disappear
d
the boats normally become small-looking before they disappear beyond the horizon
d
the boats normally become small-looking before they disappear beyond the horizon