Excerpt from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Chapter 1)
Mark Twain
(6)There was a slight noise behind her and she turned just in time to seize a small boy by the slack of his roundabout and arrest his flight.
"There! I might 'a thought of that closet. What you been doing in there?"
"Nothing."
“Nothing! Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What IS that truck?”
“I don’t know, aunt.”
“Well, I know. It’s jam—that’s what it is. Forty times I’ve said if you didn’t let that jam alone I’d skin you. Hand me that switch.”
The switch hovered in the air—the peril was desperate--
"My! Look behind you, aunt!"
(7)The old lady whirled round, and snatched her skirts out of danger. The lad fled on the instant, scrambled up the high board-fence, and disappeared over it.
His aunt Polly stood surprised a moment, and then broke into a gentle laugh.
(8)"Hang the boy, can't I never learn anything? Ain't he played me tricks enough like that for me to be looking out for him by this time? But old fools is the biggest fools there is.
What does Aunt Polly's gentle laugh in line (7) reveal about her character and her attitude toward her nephew, Tom?
A) Tom has clearly driven her insane.
B) She is never going to be able to understand Tom.
C) Though she gets angry with him, she truly loves Tom.
D) She needs to be more serious about disciplining Tom.