Question

From Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory Then Sir Bedivere departed and went to the sword and lightly took it up, and so he went to the water’s side; and there he bound the girdle about the hilts, and threw the sword as far into the water as he might. And there came an arm and a hand above the water and took it and clutched it, and shook it thrice and brandished; and then vanished away the hand with the sword into the water. So Sir Bedivere came again to the King and told him what he saw. “Alas,” said the King, “help me hence, for I dread me I have tarried overlong.” What is the main idea of this passage?

The sword falls down to the bottom of the lake.

An arm appears out of the water and shakes the sword three times.

Sir Bedivere shows a hatred for King Arthur.

Sir Bedivere pretends to throw the sword into the water.

Answer 1

There could be multiple correct answers to this excerpt from Thomas Malory's work on King Arthur. However, we have got a multiple choice question and we have to obtain the correct answer from these options. It is a supernatural event that has been described in this excerpt. And we don't observe first, second or fourth options in the excerpt. There are lines "...there came an arm and a hand above the water and took it and clutched it, and shook it thrice..." which is the paraphrase for the answer in the second option - An arm appears out of the water and shakes the sword three times. Therefore, the correct answer is the second one.

Answer 2

The main idea of the passage is An arm appears out of the water and shakes the sword three times. This shows that the there are many traitors in his men and that no one can ever helped him when he was drowning in the water that is why he was asking for help.