In the given passage, the word puncheon refers to a smoothed log used during summer time as this is cool.
<u>Explanation:
</u>
This extract, taken from Twain's Huckleberry Finn, is trying to create a scene, where the protagonist enters the church and finds a dog (hog) or two inside the church. He is trying to say that dogs like smooth logs to sleep on as they become very cool during the night on any summer day. Therefore, the word puncheon, here, describes a smoothed log.
Context clues are provided by the authors to provide the readers with essential clue or hint that would assist them to know the meaning of the unfamiliar words and thus, better understand the text.
In the given question, the word 'PUNCHEON' in bold implies the meaning a 'smooth log' as per the context of the excerpt. The excerpt is taken from Twain's 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn' and since he was a realist, he gave a realistic touch to his descriptions by associating it to common things instead of fantasizing. Here, Twain compares the 'hogs'(dogs) to the 'puncheon'(smooth log) floor of summer where they(hogs) wished to sleep on as it was cold during summers. Thus, <u>option B</u> is the correct answer.
