The torrent of pedestrians and vehicles is endless- streetcars, buses,
automobiles, horse-carts, truck, trains, bicycles, motorcycles, airplanes and
wheelbarrows; fire engines, with their high-powered motors and ear-splitting
sirens, the shouts of children and adults; the buzz of conversation of the
human swarm on the sidewalks; guffaws, curses, cries; the explosion of a
backfiring engine; wheels that bump over the rails and rend all tranquility: the
spinning of propellers boring thunderously through space
Use the paragraph to answer the question.
What is the main effect of the author including so many different
examples of sensory language in the sentence?
A. It suggests that a person who lives in New York enjoys all the
activity and motion.
B. It illustrates what it is like to hear the intensity and variety of
noises in New York:
C. It emphasizes that a lot of people live together in a small area in
New York.
D. It demonstrates how living in New York is an assault on all of a
person's senses.
D. It demonstrates how living in New York is an assault on all of a person's senses.
The author's inclusion of a detailed list of sensations—visual and auditory, specifically—creates a vivid sense of the overwhelming and chaotic sensory experience one might have in a bustling urban environment such as New York. The variety of noises and activities described not only reflect hearing but also sight, and to some extent, the feeling of movement and possibly even smells (indirectly implied by references to engines and sirens). This effectively illustrates an "assault" on the senses, with the word "assault" implying a kind of overwhelming force that one has to endure.