Question

most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around. then mr. summers raised one hand high and said, “adams.” a man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. “hi, steve,” mr. summers said, and mr. adams said, “hi, joe.” they greeted one another humorously and nervously. then mr. adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. he held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand.
“allen.” mr. summers said. “anderson... bentham.”
“seems like there’s no time at all between lotteries any more,” mrs. delacroix said to mrs. graves in the back row. “seems like we got through with the last one only last week.”
“time sure goes fast,” mrs. graves said.
“clark... delacroix.”
“there goes my old man,” mrs. delacroix said. she held her breath while her husband went forward, ⑪
“dunbar,” mr. summers said, and mrs. dunbar went steadily to the box while one of the women said, “go on, janey,” and another said, “there she goes.”
“we’re next,” mrs. graves said. she watched while mr. graves came around from the side of the box, greeted mr. summers gravely and selected a slip of paper from the box. by now, all through the crowd there were men holding the small folded papers in their large hands, turning them over and over nervously. mrs. dunbar and her two sons stood together, mrs. dunbar holding the slip of paper.
“harper... hutchinson.”
“get up there, bill,” mrs. hutchinson said, and the people near her laughed.
“jones.”
“they do say,” mr. adams said to old man warner, who stood next to him, “that over in the north village they’re talking of giving up the lottery.”
old man warner snorted. “pack of crazy fools,” he said. “listening to the young folks, nothing’s good enough for them. next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more, live that way for a while. used to be a saying about ‘lottery in june, corn be heavy soon.’ first thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns. there’s always been a lottery,” he added petulantly. “bad enough to see young joe summers up there joking with everybody.”
“some places have already quit lotteries,” mrs. adams said.
“nothing but trouble in that,” old man warner said stoutly. “pack of young fools.” ⑫
building questions
question 7 of 11
why does the town have a lottery?
a it is a tradition that is thought to bring them a good harvest.
b both the young and the old support the lottery.
c they like to remember their town’s history.
d they genuinely enjoy the lottery.

Explanation:

The text shows Old Man Warner defending the lottery, stating a traditional saying "Lottery in June, corn be heavy soon" which links the lottery to a good harvest. He argues abandoning it would lead to ruin, confirming the town's belief the lottery is a tradition for agricultural success. The other options are unsupported: the text doesn't show universal support, focus on remembering town history, or genuine enjoyment of the lottery itself.

Answer:

A. It is a tradition that is thought to bring them a good harvest.