“she has become really quite expert, she thought, at listening as though she didn’t listen, at sitting in other people’s lives just for a minute while they talked round her”

is this a simile? i know it has “as” in it but i’m not quite sure, and if it’s not is it any figurative language at all?

Read the following passage: sari couldn't believe her bad luck. she had locked her keys in the car. to add fuel to the fire, her cell phone was in the locked car, and she was late for a very important meeting. she knocked on her neighbor's door so that she could ask to use his phone, but he was not not home. what was she to do? what role does the idiom in the passage serve? a. it shows that sari has incredibly bad luck when it comes to work. b. it shows that sari's neighbor was not home either. c. it shows that sari locked her keys in the car. d. it shows that sari's situation was worse than it seemed at first.

When aquinas realized that he could not find all the answers, he turned to

Read this excerpt from i never had it made. "it's all that ought to count," he replied. "but it isn't. maybe one of these days it will be all that counts. that is one of the reasons i've got you here, robinson. if you're a good enough man, we can make this a start in the right direction. but let me tell you, it's going to take an awful lot of courage." he was back to the crossroads question that made me start to get angry minutes earlier. he asked it slowly and with great care. "have you got the guts to play the game no matter what happens? " "i think i can play the game, mr. rickey," i said. the next few minutes were tough. branch rickey had to make absolutely sure that i knew what i would face. beanballs would be thrown at me. i would be called the kind of names which would hurt and infuriate any man. i would be physically attacked. could i take all of this and control my temper, remain steadfastly loyal to our ultimate aim? which is the central idea of this excerpt?