Answer:
The meaning of the word "trace" in the sentence is:
A. (verb) 2. To study by going back over a progression step-by-step.
Explanation:
Since the word "trace" as used in the sentence is a verb, we can already eliminate options B and D. The sentence does not talk about the action of drawing something by following an outline of a shape. Instead, it talks of being able to find out information by going back, a step at a time. That is what we do when we study our ancestry. We go further and further back, finding members of our family that are more and more distant from us. Having that in mind, we can easily choose letter A as the best option:
A. (verb) 2. To study by going back over a progression step-by-step.
Answer:
No, none that I am aware of. In Shakespeare’s time, a tragedy meant that the main character falls from fortune to disaster, normally because of a flaw or fate. Obviously, other characters may be unharmed, or may even benefit from the protagonist’s downfall. I’m not writing to make fun of other posters, but we could as easily call the Matrix a tragedy because Agent Smith loses, or say that Titanic has a happy ending for coffin salesmen. Yes, Macduff or Fortinbras do well at the end of their plays, but they are not the protagonists.
For that reason, because a pre-modern tragedy definitionally means that the hero falls, and that’s what happens in Shakespeare’s plays, I’d say no. There are “problem” plays such as the Merchant of Venice, where the opposite happens—a comedy has a partly sad ending, with Shylock’s defeat—but again, it’s all in what the protagonist does, and Antonio (the merchant) wins at its close when his ships return
The setting can change in (this story?) many ways, such as winter, spring, summer, fall, daylight, night, and evening.