Answer: B. It causes the reader to think about how doing nothing should be easy, but in fact can be quite hard.
A paradox is a contradictory statement that nevertheless contains an element of truth. It is a dramatic figure of speech that is often used when describing absurd situations. In this case, the paradox is the fact that Algernon believes doing nothing to be hard, contrary to most people's assumptions. He goes even further by saying that work that is pointless is still preferable to doing nothing.
The predicate nominative in this sentence is state, because it is showing what Alaska became.
