Fiction · Level 4 · 152 words
The Lighthouse Keeper
Original passage © Team AM, written for Hone Literacy.
For nineteen years Halloran had kept the light burning on the rock at the harbor mouth, and in all that time not a single ship had wrecked on his watch. The town considered this proof of nothing. Ships did not wreck, they said, because the sea here was calm; the light was a courtesy, a habit, an old man's company in the dark. Halloran did not argue. He climbed the spiral stairs each evening, trimmed the wick, and polished the great lens until it threw its beam clean across the water. He knew what the townsfolk could not: that the absence of disaster is the hardest kind of work to see. No one thanks the wall that holds back the flood until the day it falls. So he kept it standing, asking nothing, and slept well, because he understood the value of a thing that never has to prove itself by failing.
Comprehension questions
1. What is the main idea of this passage?
- A Lighthouses are no longer useful
- B Quiet, preventive work often goes unnoticed because nothing goes wrong
- C The townsfolk are cruel to Halloran
- D Calm seas make sailing safe
Show answer
B. Quiet, preventive work often goes unnoticed because nothing goes wrong
The passage argues that 'the absence of disaster is the hardest kind of work to see,' praising unseen prevention.
2. Why does Halloran not argue with the townsfolk?
- A He agrees the light is useless
- B He is too shy to speak
- C He is content knowing his work's true worth even unrecognized
- D He plans to leave the town soon
Show answer
C. He is content knowing his work's true worth even unrecognized
He 'asks nothing' and 'sleeps well,' content in his private understanding of the light's value.
3. What does the image of 'the wall that holds back the flood' illustrate?
- A That floods are common in the town
- B That protective work is only appreciated after it fails
- C That walls are stronger than lighthouses
- D That Halloran fears a flood is coming
Show answer
B. That protective work is only appreciated after it fails
The line says no one thanks the wall 'until the day it falls,' mirroring the unseen value of the light.
Source: Written for Hone Literacy. Original passage © Team AM, written for Hone Literacy.