Question

read the excerpt from \how the whale got his throat\

in the sea, once upon a time, o my best beloved, there was a whale, and he ate fishes. he ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackerel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. all the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so! till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small stute fish, and he swam a little behind the whales right ear, so as to be out of harms way. then the whale stood up on his tail and said, \im hungry.\ and the small stute fish said in a small stute voice,
oble and generous cetacean, have you ever tasted man?\

no, said the whale. what is it like?

which part of the excerpt best demonstrates that the authors purpose is to entertain children with a humorous story?

○ \in the sea, once upon a time, o my best beloved, there was a whale, and he ate fishes. he ate the starfish and the garfish, and the crab and the dab, and the plaice and the dace, and the skate and his mate, and the mackerel and the pickereel, and the really truly twirly-whirly eel. all the fishes he could find in all the sea he ate with his mouth—so!\

○ \till at last there was only one small fish left in all the sea, and he was a small stute fish, and he swam a little behind the whales right ear, so as to be out of harms way. then the whale stood up on his tail and said, im hungry.\

○ \and the small stute fish said in a small stute voice, noble and generous cetacean, have you ever

Explanation:

To determine which part best shows the author's purpose to entertain children with humor, we analyze each option:

• The first option (about the whale eating various fishes) is more about listing what the whale ate. While it has some playful language, the third option has more humorous elements.
• The second option (about the last small fish and the whale being hungry) is more of a plot progression without strong humor.
• The third option: The small fish addressing the whale as "Noble and generous Cetacean" in a "small'stute voice" is humorous. The formal, exaggerated address from a small, shrewd (implied by "’Stute") fish to the whale, along with the whimsical situation, creates a funny tone suitable for entertaining children.

Answer:

The option: "And the small 'Stute Fish said in a small 'stute voice, 'Noble and generous Cetacean, have you ever tasted Man?'"