Question

Read this excerpt from the exposition in "The Monkey's Paw." Father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire. What is one piece of information you can infer about the story from this sentence? A. The father in the story is possessed, so he probably says insane things a lot. B. The woman in the story is knitting, so the characters probably don't have good clothes to wear. C. The father is playing chess with the son, but the son is not old enough to know the rules. D. Since the father likes taking risks in a game, he might like taking risks in life as well.

Answer 1

D. Since the father likes taking risks in a game, he might like taking risks in life as well.

This is the best choice. Process of elimination helps when answering this question. From this excerpt, we don't have any clues that the father is possessed or says insane things. We also cannot infer that the woman knitting indicates that the character don't have good clothes to wear. During this time period many women would knit in the evening. We also can't infer that the son is not old enough to play chess. There is nothing to indicate the age of the son or that he doesn't know the rules.