Hi! This is one of my favorite stories and here are the answers/ my opinions.
1) Arachne's pride and bigheadedness causes her to be blind to the praise she is given
2) Arachne could have thanked the old lady and accepted her advice.
3) She disrespects the numerous gods in the woven cloth.
4) Athena could have seen forgiveness or could have given Arachne the prize for winning (even though in Athenas place it was only right Archne was punished)
Hope I helped, tell me if I'm wrong!
He a race car speeding around the track would be a metaphor
