Question

defiance
1 as he sang, brennan watched mr. nelson’s hands moving. actually, he was practically consumed by the motions. one and two and three and four. the chorus was singing \defiance,\ brennan’s favorite. \defiance! strong defiance!\ they sang. and one and two and three and four. sometimes, the perfect regularity of mr. nelson’s conducting was enough to stop him from doing anything.
2 not this time. the instant the song ended, brennan felt a \hoot\ rising up. he tried to hold it back. but the impulse barreled over the gate he tried to put up in his mind. a literal hoot shot out of his mouth. he sounded like an
based on the first and second paragraphs, what does brennan want to achieve by focusing on mr. nelson’s conducting?
he hopes to become a conductor himself one day.
he wants mr. nelson to see that he is making an effort to sing well.
he hopes to prevent himself from making a \hooting\ noise.
he wants to make sure that he maintains the song’s rhythm.

Explanation:

Paragraph 1 states Mr. Nelson's regular conducting stops Brennan from acting out, and Paragraph 2 shows Brennan tried (and failed) to hold back a "hoot" noise. This means his focus on the conducting was an attempt to stop himself from making that noise.

Answer:

He hopes to prevent himself from making a "hooting" noise.