Question

19. What does derision mean in this passage: "They were making a mockery on

of my horror! this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than
this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision!"
1:ridicule
2:murder
3;agony
4: madness

Answer 1

1: ridicule

Step-by-step explanation:

Using context clues, the narrator is saying that people are mocking them, ie making fun of him for being scared. They are clearly not happy about being made fun of, saying anything would we better than the pain they feel of being ridiculed. Even though they are feeling agony, that cannot be the answer because it was already written in the passage. Ridicule is the better answer. Ridicule is a synonym for mockery, and ridicule is also the dictionary definition of derision.