Question

1. read the excerpt from \an uncomfortable bed\ by guy de maupassant

one autumn i went to spend the hunting season with some friends in a château in picardy.
my friends were fond of practical jokes. i do not care to know people who are not.
when i arrived, they gave me a princely reception, which at once awakened suspicion in my mind. they fired off rifles, embraced me, and made much of me, as if they expected to have great fun at my expense.
i said to myself: “look out, old ferret! they have something in store for you.”
during the dinner, the mirth was excessive, exaggerated, in fact. i thought: “here are people who have more than their share of amusement, and apparently without reason. they must have planned some good jokes. assuredly i am to be the victim of the joke. attention!”
which sentence best describes the narrator’s actions that advance the plot?
a. he shares that he is fond of practical jokes.
b. he pretends as though nothing is wrong.
c. he goes to bed later than the other guests.
d. he guards against a practical joke.

1. read the excerpt from \an uncomfortable bed\ by guy de maupassant

during the entire evening, everyone laughed in an exaggerated fashion. i scented a practical joke in the air, as a dog scents game. but what was it? i was watchful, restless. i did not let a word, or a meaning, or a gesture escape me. everyone seemed to me an object of suspicion, and i even looked distrustfully at the faces of the servants.
what is the impact of the phrase an object of suspicion on the tone of the story?
a. it helps create a cynical tone.
b. it helps create a frightening tone.
c. it helps create a jovial tone.
d. it helps create a hopeless tone.

1. read the excerpt from \an uncomfortable bed\ by guy de maupassant

i must have been in a deep sleep for a long time, but all of a sudden, i was awakened with a start by the fall of a heavy body tumbling right on top of my own, and, at the same time, i received on my face, on my neck, and on my chest a burning liquid which made me utter a howl of pain. and a dreadful noise, as if a sideboard laden with plates and dishes had fallen down, almost deafened me.
i was smothering beneath the weight that was crushing me and preventing me from moving. i stretched out my hand to find out what was the nature of this object. i felt a face, a nose, and whiskers. then, with all my strength, i launched out a blow over this face. but i immediately received a hail of cuffing which made me jump straight out of the soaked sheets, and rush in my nightshirt into the corridor, the door of which i found open.
oh, heavens! it was broad daylight. the noise brought my friends hurrying into the apartment, and we found, sprawling over my improvised bed, the dismayed valet, who, while bringing me my morning cup of tea, had tripped over this obstacle in the middle of the floor, and fallen on his stomach, spilling, my breakfast over my face in spite of himself.
the precautions i had taken in closing the shutters and going to sleep in the middle of the room had only brought about the practical joke i had been trying to avoid.
which sentence states a theme the author develops over the course of the story?
a. one’s first instincts should always be trusted.
b. acting on one’s fears can cause them to come true.
c. old friends can quickly turn into new enemies.
d. the unexpected should always be expected.

Explanation:

Question 1

• Option A: The narrator says he doesn't care to know people who aren't fond of practical jokes, but he isn't saying he is fond of them, so A is incorrect.
• Option B: The text shows the narrator is suspicious and on guard, not pretending nothing is wrong, so B is incorrect.
• Option C: There is no mention of the narrator going to bed later than others, so C is incorrect.
• Option D: The narrator is suspicious of his friends' excessive mirth and thinks they have a joke planned, so he is guarding against a practical joke, which advances the plot as it leads to his precautions later.

• Option A: "Cynical" implies distrustful of others' motives. The narrator sees everyone as an "object of suspicion" and distrusts them, creating a cynical tone.
• Option B: The phrase doesn't create a "frightening" tone as it's about suspicion, not fear of danger.
• Option C: "Jovial" is cheerful, which is the opposite of the suspicious tone.
• Option D: "Hopeless" is too extreme; the tone is suspicious, not hopeless.

• Option A: The narrator's instincts led him to take precautions, but those precautions caused the joke to happen, so instincts weren't trusted correctly, so A is incorrect.
• Option B: The narrator feared a practical joke, took precautions (closing shutters, sleeping in the middle), and these actions led to the valet tripping and the joke happening, so acting on fears caused them to come true.
• Option C: The story is about a practical joke, not friends turning into enemies.
• Option D: The story is about the narrator's fear leading to the joke, not expecting the unexpected.

Answer:

D. He guards against a practical joke.

Question 2