Question

following selection is a european folktale.
adapted from \a chapter of fish\
by arthur ransome
sometimes in spring, when the big river flooded its banks and made lakes of
e meadows, and the little rivers flowed deep, old peter spent a few days
etting fish. also in summer he set night-lines in the little river not far from
where it left the forest. and so it happened that one day he sat in the warm
sunshine outside his hut, mending his nets and making floats for them; not
cork floats like ours, but little rolls of the silver bark of the birch tree.
and while he sat there vanya and maroosia watched him, and sometimes even
helped, holding a piece of the net between them, while old peter fastened on
the little glistening rolls of bark that were to keep it up in the water. and all the
time old peter worked, he told them stories about fish.
first he told them what happened when the first pike was born, and how it is
that all the little fish are not eaten by the great pike with his huge greedy
mouth and his sharp teeth.
on the night of ivanovs day (that is the midsummer) there was born the pike,
a huge fish, with such teeth as never were. and when the pike was born the
waters of the river foamed and raged, so that the ships in the river were all but
swamped, and the young girls who were playing on the banks ran away as fast
as they could, frightened, they were, by the roaring of the waves, and the wind
and the foam on the water. terrible was the birth of the sharp-toothed pike.

how do the ersh’s actions advance the plot of the selection?
a the ersh’s advice to abandon the pike’s territory leads to the
overpopulation of the other fish species.
b the ersh’s ideas on how to deal with the pike allows the other
fish to admire him.
c the ersh’s plan to trick the pike eventually leads to the capture
of the perch and dace.
d the ersh’s suggestion on how to handle the pike leads to the
pike’s eventual demise.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option:

• Option A: The text doesn't mention overpopulation of other fish species due to abandoning pike's territory, so A is incorrect.
• Option B: The story is about dealing with the pike, not other fish admiring the ersh, so B is incorrect.
• Option C: The ersh's plan is to trick the pike, but the capture of perch and dace isn't indicated as the result, so C is incorrect.
• Option D: The ersh's suggestion on handling the pike (likely a plan to deal with it) would lead to the pike's demise, which fits the plot's progression.

Answer:

D. The ersh's suggestion on how to handle the pike leads to the pike's eventual demise.