Which phrase from the excerpt best reveals how the social environment shifts as the lottery begins? A sudden hush fell on the cr
owd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. "All ready?" he called. The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions . . . A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi, Steve." Mr. Summers said, and Mr. Adams said, "Hi, Joe." [H]e turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand.
A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list.
Explanation:
The phrase from the excerpt that best reveals how the social environment shifts as the lottery begins is "A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list.".
This is because, by mentioning that there was a sudden silence in the crowd as the lottery numbers were about to be called shows that the social environment shifted as the announcement was about to be made.
