The paragraph that provides the best variety in sentence patterns is B. my cousin the one who lives in Japan just sent me a text message she is excited about traveling and mentioned she would like to see various places including New York and the Grand Canyon.
In this paragraph, the use of compound and complex sentences make it more varied than the other options. In the first sentence, the word <em>who</em> introduces a dependent clause within the main clause that is <em>my cousin sent me a text message.</em> The second sentence is a compound sentence since it contains two Verbal phrases, <em>mentioned and would like to see</em>, joined by the connector <em>and. </em>
If this is an excerpt from a story, I wouldn’t be of much help. But from a layman's perspective, it seems like the character is attempting to please the failed humorist or he or she would have been frank. This in turn may have triggered a chain reaction, prompting the humorist to continue with his jokes which would have further affected the character. He or she is also giving the former a false sense of happiness and appreciation.
This passage may not affect the whole story in a remarkably discernible manner, but it definitely proves the character's penchant for politeness. And that may be be a deciding factor in his or her further decisions that ultimately define the plot of the story.
