Question

In this passage, a witness recalls a district Communist Party conference in the USSR during Stalin’s rule.

At the conclusion of the conference, a tribute to Comrade Stalin was called for. Of course, everyone stood up . . . . The small hall echoed with "stormy applause, rising to an ovation." For three minutes, four minutes, five . . . . It was becoming insufferably silly even to those who really adored Stalin. However, who would dare to be the first to stop? . . . . After all, NKVD men [the secret police] were in the hall applauding and watching to see who quit first! . . . .
Then, after eleven minutes, the director of the paper factory . . . sat down in his seat. And, oh, a miracle took place! . . . . everyone else stopped dead and sat down. . . .
That same night the factory director was arrested. They easily pasted ten years [in a labor camp] on him on the pretext of something quite different. But after he signed [his confession] . . . his interrogator reminded him:
"Don't ever be the first to stop applauding!"
–The Gulag Archipelago,
Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
How does this passage show totalitarianism in the Soviet Union? Check all that apply.
A-Some people refused to applaud.
B-The Communist Party was one of many political parties in the USSR.
C-People were afraid to be the first to stop clapping.
D-The Soviet government used fear and terror to control its citizens.
E-The government allowed people to have freedom of speech and assembly.

Answer 1

C-People were afraid to be the first to stop clapping.

D-The Soviet government used fear and terror to control its citizens.

Step-by-step explanation:

Edge 2021

Answer 2

This is the correct answer:

D-The Soviet government used fear and terror to control its citizens.

Step-by-step explanation:

The people of the Soviet Russia, even the ones at the top positions were easily living in the reign of terror where even incidents such as this were worthy of sending them to prison.

This incident is basically where the first person who stops clapping is the one who gets to be known as a traitor for the people as that person does not care about the regime enough.

Now this incident clearly shows that the Soviets had taken this to an extreme and even something as silly could land you in prison for a long time.