Question

Part A

Answer 1

Answer:

Part A- He is trying to trick Ben.

Part B- "Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart."

Explanation:

Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" revolves around the story of a young boy named Tom Sawyer and his adventures along the river Mississippi. The story follows a mischievous Tom, playing or fooling his Aunt Polly, his friends, and also includes his half-brother Sid.

In the chapter "The Glorious Whitewasher", Tom was made to paint the fence while his friends were enjoying their day. Though reluctant to whitewash the fence, he had no means to escape the work. So, he reluctantly worked on that, when along came Ben Rogers. Tom fooled Ben into doing his work by saying ‘whitewashing isn't work’, asking "Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?" This changed Ben's opinion of the work.

But when Ben asked to do the work, Tom refused, though that was all part of the plan. He would trick Ben into doing the work, and also in exchange for his apple. The use of the word "reluctance" showed Tom's refusal to let Ben do the work but deep inside, he was happy to be relieved of it, with the narrator using the word "alacrity" in the same sentence.

Thus, the correct answers are

Part A- He is trying to trick Ben.

Part B- "Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart."

Answer 2

Part A: Option B) He is trying to trick Ben

The Evidence is shown and explained in part B of the question.

Part B: Option D)  "Tom gave up the brush with reluctance in his face, but alacrity in his heart. "

Reluctance means 'unwillingness or disinclination to do something', which means that Tom is making it look like he doesn't want to give the brush to him, but with alacrity in his heart which means cheerfulness.