Read this excerpt from The Great Fire. When William Lee reached Goll's drugstore, he was gasping for air and frantic. In a breat
hless voice, Lee demanded the key to the alarm box that was mounted on the outside of the store. Bruno Goll refused to hand it over, insisting that a fire truck had already passed. Lee had no time to argue with Goll. He was too concerned about the safety of his family, so he hurried back to them almost immediately. He got there just in time to see the fire taking hold of his neighbor's shed and fence, while the breeze blew a rain fire on his property. Two things were very clear to Lee: first, despite what Goll had said, no fire engines had arrived, and, second, his house was about to catch fire. Why was William Lee frantic and breathless when he first arrived at Goll’s drugstore? A. He was angry at the owner for refusing to sound the alarm and for lying about the fire engines.
B. He was confused about who had informed the firefighters of the fire and why there were trucks driving by.
C. He knew there was a fire burning near his home, and he wanted to sound the alarm as quickly as possible.
D. He knew that the fire would be massive and firefighters would not be able to control the flames.
C. He knew there was a fire burning near his home, and he wanted to sound the alarm as quickly as possible.
Explanation:
"The Great Fire" written by Jim Murphy tells the story of a fire that ravages the city of Chicago. This story was based on the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 where most of the city of Chicago was destroyed by the fire that lasted for thirty hours. William Lee is the neighbor of the O'Learys from where the fire initially started. He had seen the fire and wanted to sound the fire alarm as soon as possible. So, he come racing frantically to the shop to try to sound the alarm at the store but the owner of the store, Bruno Goll refused to hand the key over to him.
