This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen Adah is so obsessed with the sleek woman at the hospital because the woman

Analyze the question: The question asks why Adah is "obsessed" with the sleek woman she sees at the hospital in Second Class Citizen.

Recall the text: Adah is in the hospital after giving birth to her second child, Bolaji, and is struggling with her marriage to Francis, who is lazy, irresponsible, and unsupportive. In the ward there is a well-groomed, elegant (sleek) woman. Adah is struck by how that woman's husband treats her. He visits regularly, brings her gifts and flowers, and is attentive, affectionate and caring.

Adah, by contrast, gets no such treatment from Francis. He doesn't show up, doesn't care for her, and treats her as a convenience. Her fascination with the sleek woman is therefore less about the woman's wealth or looks and more about the kind of marriage and care the woman enjoys, which Adah lacks.

Check the options:

• A. has a doting husband. Fits: the woman is cherished by her husband, which highlights what Adah is missing.
• B. has a high paying job. Not the focus of the passage.
• C. gives birth to twins. Not what the text emphasizes.
• D. lives in a mansion. Not the focus; the contrast is in the husband's attentiveness.

Answer: A

Exam tip: In Emecheta's novel, many of Adah's feelings come from the contrast between what she has (an uncaring husband, poverty, being treated as second class) and what she wants (respect, love, support). When a question asks about Adah's envy or admiration, look for what she lacks in her own life.