Read the passage.
(Paragraph 1) Chen and his cousin Laila visited the aquarium on Saturday. The building smelled like salt and popcorn from the snack stand.
(Paragraph 2) In the jellyfish room, the tanks glowed blue. The jellyfish floated like tiny umbrellas, opening and closing as they drifted.
(Paragraph 3) "They look soft," Laila whispered, pressing her hands to the glass. Chen noticed how the jellyfish moved without splashing, as if they were dancing slowly.
(Paragraph 4) A sign explained that jellyfish don't have bones. Chen watched them pulse through the water and felt calm, the way he did when he listened to quiet music.
What does the simile "like tiny umbrellas" suggest about the jellyfish in paragraph 2?
- They have rounded tops with thin parts trailing down underneath them. (correct answer)
- They fold up tightly and stay closed until someone opens them by hand.
- They have hard, pointy tips and stiff edges like a metal umbrella frame.
- They are so large and wide that they block all the light in the room.
Explanation: The simile compares jellyfish to tiny umbrellas, so you should think about what shape an umbrella has: a rounded dome on top with parts hanging down beneath it. The best answer says the jellyfish have rounded tops with thin parts trailing down underneath, which matches both the umbrella shape and the passage detail about them 'opening and closing as they drifted.' The choice about folding up and staying closed until opened by hand focuses on how a real umbrella works, not on the shape the author wants you to picture. The choice about hard, pointy tips and stiff edges misses the point too: jellyfish are described as soft, and the comparison is about their gentle dome shape, not sharp metal parts. The choice saying they are so large they block all the light contradicts the passage, which says the tanks 'glowed blue,' and the simile even calls them 'tiny.' Remember, a simile using 'like' or 'as' is figurative, so ask what quality is really being shared, here the rounded, open-and-close shape, rather than taking the umbrella literally.