The following passage is from a novel set in the early 20th century. The narrator is a young woman who is traveling to a remote island with her husband. The passage highlights her feelings about the island and the voyage. "My husband, a man of the sea, and I, a woman of the world, were sailing towards an island that seemed at once familiar and utterly alien, a place where the past and present were forever tangled. I had heard tales of the island’s beauty, of its verdant hills and sparkling beaches, but nothing could have prepared me for the sheer intensity of the place. I was drawn to it, yet terrified by it, a siren song calling me closer, yet threatening to swallow me whole."

SAT · English · previous-year question