Question

Read the sentence from "The Lottery."

The lottery was conducted – as were the square dances, the teen-age club, the Halloween program – by Mr. Summers, who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.

What is most ironic about this sentence?

-that Mr. Summers has time to devote to community events
-that these events take a considerable amount of time to prepare
-that the village has a teen club
-that the lottery is thought of as a civic activity

Answer 1

The right answer is "that the lottery is thought of as a civic activity".

The lottery is a game in which people bet on numbers in order to win the established value for the lottery. That is, it is a method of distributing prizes and not a civic activity.

Answer 2

The last one.
The lottery is not a civic activity. Civic activities build communities as a whole, but lotteries involove one person using luck to build himself up rather than engaging in character-improving civic activities like square dance.