dark, frowned, ominous, silence, sadness
These words best contribute to the dismal dreary tone in the first paragraph. A tone is the feeling an author creates. We know that dismal and dreary both describe something negative, so all the words in the answer must have a negative meaning as well. In option B, the words laughter, life and wisdom do not create a negative feeling. Option D has the words spirit and reigned which are also not negative. In option C, there are many neutral words such as so, even, and land. These words do not have a negative or a positive feeling.