Question

sheriff. nothing here but kitchen things.
(the county attorney, after again looking around the kitchen, opens the door of a cupboard closet. he gets up
on a chair and looks on a shelf. pulls his hand away, sticky.)
county attorney. here’s a nice mess.
(the women draw nearer.)
mrs. peters (to the other woman). oh, her fruit; it did freeze. (to the lawyer). she worried about that when it
turned so cold. she said the fire’d go out and her jars would break.
what do the underlined stage directions suggest about the women, mrs. hale and mrs. peters?
○ they are totally fascinated by what the county attorney is saying.
○ they are being polite by attempting to move nearer to the speaker.
○ they share a bond as women and are instinctively curious.
○ they are attempting to hide something by distracting the speaker.

Explanation:

• Analyze Option A: The stage direction is about their physical movement (drawing nearer) in response to the County Attorney's discovery, not about being "totally fascinated" by his words. There's no text to support fascination with his speech.
• Analyze Option B: Moving nearer isn't a standard "polite" gesture in this context. The situation involves a mess in the kitchen (related to Mrs. Wright's fruit freezing), so politeness is not the motive.
• Analyze Option C: The women draw nearer when the County Attorney finds a mess, and Mrs. Peters later explains about Mrs. Wright's fruit. This shows they connect as women (relating to Mrs. Wright's concerns) and are curious about what the attorney found, matching the "bond" and "instinctively curious" description.
• Analyze Option D: There's no indication they are hiding something or distracting the speaker. Their movement is about curiosity regarding the mess, not deception.

Answer:

C. They share a bond as women and are instinctively curious.