Question

Read the excerpt from "The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell. "Didn't you notice that the crew's nerves seemed a bit jumpy today?" "They were a bit strange, now you mention it. Even Captain Nielsen—" "Yes, even that tough-minded old Swede, who'd go up to the devil himself and ask him for a light. Those fishy blue eyes held a look I never saw there before. All I could get out of him was: 'This place has an evil name among sea-faring men, sir.' Then he said to me, very gravely: 'Don't you feel anything?'—as if the air about us was actually poisonous. Now, you mustn't laugh when I tell you this—I did feel something like a sudden chill. "There was no breeze. The sea was as flat as a plate-glass window. We were drawing near the island then. What I felt was a—a mental chill; a sort of sudden dread." "Pure imagination," said Rainsford. "One superstitious sailor can taint the whole ship's company with his fear." Which phrase from the excerpt supports the claim that there is something sinister about the island?

A.“those fishy blue eyes”
B“a sort of sudden dread”
C“pure imagination”
D“one superstitious sailor”

Answer 1

The answer is B

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

The phrase from the excerpt that supports the claim that there is something sinister about the island is “a sort of sudden dread” (Option B).

The meaning of dread is feeling great fear. So, if you dread something, it is because you are very afraid of it. In this case, the speaker says that all of the sudden he felt scared and this feeling coincided with them being near the island.

The other options do not really have words that relate to fear to make readers think the island is sinister in any way.