The correct answer is A. Greediness
Step-by-step explanation:
The word greediness refers to the action of overly desire the possession of wealth or belongings. In the case of the excerpt presented from "The Devil and Tom Walker" which is a short story written by Washington Irvin a character called Tom Walker decides to tell his wife about a hidden gold or treasure which is in a forest. Additionally for Tom Walker to have this treasure he needs to make a deal with the black man, which in the story is a devil that knows where the treasure is. As Tom's wife strongly wishes to have the gold and be wealthy for the rest of her life she encourages the man to accept the terms of the devil mainly guided by her "avarice". Considering the feeling of "avarice" is linked to the hidden gold and the desire to have it, it can be concluded in this context the word "avarice" means "greediness" as the woman desires in an excessive way to have the gold and be wealthy, which is consistent with the definition of the word "greediness".