Question

in this short story, the narrator is invited to a lavish mansion by a group of friends who enjoy playing practical jokes. the narrator is determined to go to any lengths in order to keep his friends from playing tricks on him. 1 one autumn i went to spend the hunting - season with some friends in a chateau in picardy. my friends were fond of practical jokes. i do not care to know people who are not. 2 when i arrived, they gave me a princely reception, which at once awakened suspicion in my mind. they fired off rifles, embraced me, made much of me, as if they expected to have great fun at my expense. 3 i said to myself, look out, old fellow! they have something in store for you. 4 during the dinner the mirth was excessive, exaggerated, in fact. i thought: here are people who have planned more than their share of amusement, and apparently without reason. they must have planned some good joke. assuredly i am to be the victim of the joke. attention! 5 during the entire evening every one 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 gesture, or a meaning, or a glance escape me. every one seemed to me an object of suspicion, and i even looked distrustfully at the faces of the servants. 7 the hour struck for retiring, and the whole household came to escort me to my room. why? they called to me good - night. i entered the apartment, shut the door, and remained standing, without moving a single step, holding the wax candle in my hand. 8 i heard laughter and whispering in the corridor. without doubt they were spying on me. i cast a glance round the walls, the furniture, the ceiling, the hangings, the floor. i saw nothing to justify suspicion. i heard persons moving about outside my door. i had no doubt they were looking through the keyhole. 10 all the same, there was danger. i was going perhaps to receive a cold shower from overhead, or perhaps the moment i stretched myself out, to find myself sinking to the floor with my mattress. and i did not want to be caught. all the practical jokes of which i ever had experience i searched in my memory for all the practical jokes which i ever had experience. and i did not want to be caught. all certainly not certainly not certainly not then i suddenly thought myself of a precaution which i considered insured safety. i caught hold of the side of the mattress gingerly, and very slowly drew it toward me. it came away, followed by the sheet and the rest of the bedclothes. i dragged all these objects into the very middle of the room, far from the suspected bedstead and the corner which had filled me with such anxiety. then i extinguished all the candles, and groping my way i slipped under the bed - clothes. select the correct answer. look again at paragraphs 1 - 4 of the excerpt. which statement accurately describes the conflict that is introduced in the exposition? a. the narrator becomes anxiously alert, and he thinks his friends plan to trick him. b. the narrator does not enjoy hunting, but his friends force him to go hunting with them. c. the narrator resents the practical jokes his friends are always making. d. the narrator begins to feel that his friends may try to kill him.

Explanation:

The narrator is invited to a mansion and has a sense of unease as he thinks his friends may play tricks on him. He becomes anxious and alert, suspecting his friends' intentions. There is no indication that he doesn't enjoy hunting, that his friends always play practical - jokes, or that they want to kill him.

Answer:

A. The narrator becomes anxiously alert, and he thinks his friends plan to trick him.