For one does not have to be ignorant and poor to find that his life is as barren as the dusty yards of our town. And I too have
planted marigolds. What type of figurative language is used in the phrase, "his life is as barren as the dusty yards of our town"? A.simile
B. hyperbole
C. alliteration
D.personification
The answer is a simile. This is because similes compare two things (these things here are his life and the dusty yards) by using like or as (specifically here as).
The other ones don't make sense: nothing is being over exaggerated (hyperbole), there are no repeating consonants (alliteration), and there are no human characteristics being given to inhuman subjects (personification).
I think this is a math problem. There are 6 letters in PASTEL. So, there are 6*6 possibilities of letter arrangements (you might be a little confused if you haven't learned probability yet).