In paragraph 5, the comparison of the sea to a "gentle breathing" creates what
effect?
A It emphasizes the sea's soft movements.
B It highlights the sea's aggressive movements.
C It suggests that the narrator fears the sea.
D It implies that the sea is drying up.

Paragraph 5:
The machine was standing on a sloping beach. There were no breakers and no waves, for not a breath of wind with stirring. Only a slight oily swell, rose and fell like a gentle breathing, and showed that the eternal Sea was moving and living. All along the margin, where the water sometimes broke, was a thick encrustation of salt- pink under the glaring sky. There was a sense of oppression in my head, and I noticed that I was breathing very fast. The sensation reminded me of my own experience of mountaineering, and from that I judged the air to be more rarefied.