Formal.
As far as I know, there is no such thing as either standard or practiced diction. Informal is the way you communicate with your friends, for instance, which is not how you would write a thesis paper, legal document, etc.
8. Basketball is generally better than tennis. I chose this because the author picked basketball and its best qualities.
9. The boy and the old man are very poor, but they are happy it is referenced in the passage and Patrasche is the dogs name.
10. The old man and boy were never able to make enough food. They were poor and didn't have a big garden to grow an abundance of food.
That's my take on the questions, hope it helps you.
"His mind was crowded with memories; memories of the knowledge that had come to them when they closed in on the struggling pig, knowledge that they had outwitted a living thing, imposed their will upon it, taken away its life like a long satisfying drink."
a problem between two ppl