On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and walked slowly, as though in hesitation, towards K. bridge.

2He had successfully avoided meeting his landlady on the staircase. His garret was under the roof of a high, five-storied house and was more like a cupboard than a room. The landlady who provided him with garret, dinners, and attendance, lived on the floor below, and every time he went out he was obliged to pass her kitchen, the door of which invariably stood open. And each time he passed, the young man had a sick, frightened feeling, which made him scowl and feel ashamed. He was hopelessly in debt to his landlady, and was afraid of meeting her.

3This was not because he was cowardly and abject, quite the contrary; but for some time past he had been in an overstrained irritable condition, verging on hypochondria. He had become so completely absorbed in himself, and isolated from his fellows that he dreaded meeting, not only his landlady, but anyone at all. He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him. He had given up attending to matters of practical importance; he had lost all desire to do so. Nothing that any landlady could do had a real terror for him. But to be stopped on the stairs, to be forced to listen to her trivial, irrelevant gossip, to pestering demands for payment, threats and complaints, and to rack his brains for excuses, to prevaricate, to lie--no, rather than that, he would creep down the stairs like a cat and slip out unseen.

4This evening, however, on coming out into the street, he became acutely aware of his fears.

5"I want to attempt a thing like that and am frightened by these trifles," he thought, with an odd smile. "Hm... yes, all is in a man's hands and he lets it all slip from cowardice, that's an axiom. It would be interesting to know what it is men are most afraid of. Taking a new step, uttering a new word is what they fear most.... But I am talking too much. It's because I chatter that I do nothing. Or perhaps it is that I chatter because I do nothing. I've learned to chatter this last month, lying for days together in my den thinking... of Jack the Giant-killer. Why am I going there now? Am I capable of that? Is that serious? It is not serious at all. It's simply a fantasy to amuse myself; a plaything! Yes, maybe it is a plaything."

What is the young man thinking of doing at the end of the passage?
A) robbing someone
B) isolating himself
C) committing murder
D) committing suicide
5)
How does the young man feel about his financial state now?
A) He is obsessed with it.
B) He is indifferent to it.
C) He is hopeful that it will improve.
D) He is certain that he can remedy it.
6)
Why does the young man frequently see his landlady?
A) They live on the same floor.
B) They pass each other on the stairs.
C) He shares meals with her in her kitchen.
D) He passes her kitchen whenever he leaves.
7)
What is paragraph 3 MOSTLY about?
A) how the young man feels about being poor
B) the young man's deteriorating mental state
C) the young man's relationship with his landlady
D) how the young man feels about being with others

Raskolnikov, the main character in "Crime and Punishment", by Fiodor Dostoievski, is planning to murder his landlady, whom he considers to be abject. His hesitation shows how serious the nature of his plan is. Furthermore, he mentions the English fairy tale "Jack the Giant Killer" in paragraph 5.

How does the young man feel about his financial state now?

The answer is: B) He is indifferent to it.

Although the young man was very poor, it no longer bothered him, as we can see in the following passage: "He was crushed by poverty, but the anxieties of his position had of late ceased to weigh upon him." In fact, he was quite absorbed in himself, and no practical matters could affect him.

Why does the young man frequently see his landlady?

The answer is: D) He passes her kitchen whenever he leaves.

He lived in the garret, so they didn't live on the same floor. Besides, we learn where exactly the landlady lived and why letter D is correct in the following passage: "The landlady who provided him with garret, dinners, and attendance, lived on the floor below, and every time he went out he was obliged to pass her kitchen, the door of which invariably stood open."

What is paragraph 3 MOSTLY about?

The answer is: C) the young man's relationship with his landlady

There is a bit of all that is mentioned in the other alternatives, but what paragraph 3 is MOSTLY about is the young man's relationship with his landlady, since all we learn about the character has to do with how and why he fiercely avoids her. Paragraph 3 is linked to paragraph 2, and it starts by outlining the reasons for Raskolnikov's being afraid of meeting his landlady, a fact we learn in paragraph 2. Therefore, the whole paragraph 3 is a succesful attempt at explaining the whys and hows of the main character's behavior towards the nasty woman.