Question

an uncomfortable bed by guy de maupassant (excerpt) 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. 2 my friends were fond of practical jokes. i do not care to know people who are not. 3 when i arrived, they gave me a princely reception, which at once awakened suspicion in my mind. they treated me with excessive, exaggerated, in - fact i thought, here are great fun at my expense. 4 i said to myself, look out, old ferret! they have something in store for you. 5 during the dinner the mirth was excessive, exaggerated. apparently without reason. they must have planned some good joke. assuredly i am to be the victim of the joke. attention! 6 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 meaning, or a gesture 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. 9 all the same, there was danger. i was going perhaps to receive a cold shower - bath from overhead, or perhaps the moment i stretched myself out, to find myself sinking to the floor with my mattress. i searched in my memory for all the practical jokes of which i ever had experience. and i did not want to be caught. an certainly not that night! then i suddenly betook myself of a precaution which i considered 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. i dragged all these objects into the very middle of the room, facing the entrance - door. i made my bed over again as best i could at some distance from the suspected bedside 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 all the correct answers. which two sentences from the story develop a theme that making faulty assumptions can lead to embarrassing situations? the hour struck for retiring, and the whole household came to escort me to my room. (paragraph 7) but i immediately received a hail of cuffings which made me jump straight out of the soaked sheets, and rush in my nightshirt into the corridor. the door of which i found open. (paragraph 13) my friends were fond of practical jokes. i do not care to know people who are not. (paragraph 2) i scented a practical joke in the air, as a dog scents game. (paragraph 6) for at least another hour i remained awake, starting at the slightest sound. (paragraph 11) the precautions i had taken in closing the shutters and going to sleep in the middle of the room, had only thought about the practical joke i had been trying to avoid. (paragraph 15)

Explanation:

The story revolves around the narrator being the victim of practical jokes by friends. The selected sentences should contribute to the theme that faulty assumptions due to the pranks lead to embarrassing situations. Analyzing each option, we look for sentences that show the narrator's reactions to the pranks and how they are misled.

Answer:

1. "But I immediately received a hail of cuffings which made me jump straight out of the soaked sheets, and rush in my nightshirt into the corridor, the door of which I found open." (paragraph 7) - This shows the narrator's embarrassing reaction due to a prank - soaked sheets.
2. "The precautions I had taken in closing the shutters and going to sleep in the middle of the room, had only brought about the practical joke I had been trying to avoid." (paragraph 15) - It highlights how the narrator's assumptions and precautions were in vain and led to an embarrassing prank - related situation.