Question

the video game: playing deliberately (adapted from walden, by alecander slen)
our world is fast. it’s high - speed internet, rapid transit, and instant cravings. when we want refuge from all this speed, we tend to turn to things like hiking, meditation, and reading. the suggestion that we might find a measure of solace in the very machines engendered in our harried minds will seem implausible to some. but this is, in part, the goal of walden, a game. the new video game is based on henry david thoreau’s work. the idea for the game struck its lead designer, tracy j. fullerton, while rereading walden in 2002 at walden pond. she saw thoreau’s concerns about the speed of modern life, commercialization, and its impact on experience mirrored in some of our own preoccupations about our breakneck world. fullerton, director of the university of southern california’s game innovation lab, conceived of the game as an “antidote to turbulent times,” and hopes it can help players become “conscious of the pace at which we’re living our lives, especially in regards to new technologies and the drive to constantly be updating our lives.”
the game’s virtual recreation of thoreau’s walden includes a meticulously designed landscape, a pond (based on thoreau’s own measurements), and a tiny cabin. inside the cabin, which was created to match thoreau’s actual space, the designer included books, utensils, and thoreau’s journal. it is a space to “slow down a once - crowded pace of doing” and reflect on thoreau’s work. engaging with the author, plants, and animals is a matter of personal preference regarding their significance by thoreau.
a new player is dropped into the game; one is struck by an absence: there are no roads to hurry through, no offices to rush to—just a world in which to be. this is something of a challenge in itself, but of a welcome kind.
that’s not to say nothing is happening. on fishing, or visiting the thoreau home in concord, eating some of these foods—these tasks are optional, and the game encourages you to take the walking in the woods to mean you really are hiking.
the above was first published in the summer 2017 issue of humanities, a publication of the national endowment for the humanities.
select the correct answer.
read the sentence from the fifth paragraph: “but none of these tasks are mandatory, and the game encourages you to take the walking in the woods to mean you really are hiking.”
what is the meaning of “mandatory” as it is used in the passage?
a. enforced
b. required
c. optional
d. annoying

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze the context of the word "lackadaisical" in the passage (about the game encouraging slowing down, opposite of rushed). Let's define each option:

• A. Enthused: Means excited, not matching the context of slowing down.
• B. Relaxed: The game’s design (based on Thoreau’s Walden) promotes a calm, unhurried pace, so "lackadaisical" here likely means relaxed (unrushed, taking time).
• C. Rushed: Opposite of the game’s intent (it encourages slowing down, so "lackadaisical" can’t mean rushed).
• D. Annoying: Irrelevant to the context of pace/attitude in the game.

The passage discusses a game encouraging slowing down (opposite of rushed). "Lackadaisical" here aligns with a relaxed, unhurried attitude, matching option B. Other options (enthused, rushed, annoying) do not fit the context of the game’s design (promoting calm, slow engagement).

Answer:

B. relaxed