I believe number one is false and number two True
The correct option is THE WORD CHOICE DARKENS THE TONE.
From the passage it can be seen that the author took care to use words that will arouse and sustain the suspense of the readers. The word choice in the excerpt gives the passage a dark tone that will raise the curiosity of the reader about the eventual outcome of the event stated in the passage.
Speech because if the second e was not there, then the word would be spech, making the e a short vowel, and float because without the a, float would become flot, once again, making the o a short vowel.
