Question

tornadoes at camp
the pa cracked through camp louella like sheet lightning. we had been looking forward to the trip all year. one week without our parents, without homework and history class and sniveling first-graders in the halls. it was the culmination of our time in elementary school, one last hurrah before we moved on to middle school. we had been at the camp for less than a day, and already we regretted it.
camp louella sits on the border between texas and oklahoma—three hours on the bus and another hour learning camp procedures made for an exhausting day. dinner was served at 6:30 every evening. it was 5:15, and already the boys were starving. we huddled in a shelter beneath the cabin and listened. the silence was electric.
“mr. chestnut, i really have to use the bathroom!” pleaded ben. the rest of us giggled.
“i can’t let you leave the shelter right now. there are tornadoes nearby,” he explained.
“but—”
how is the theme of fear and uncertainty explored through details in the passage?
a the narrator’s reflections on both the storm and their mother’s surgery emphasize how uncontrollable events create a sense of powerlessness and worry.
b the narrator finds comfort in knowing the storm will eventually pass, which mirrors their confidence that their mother’s surgery will be successful.
c the narrator is more focused on their friends’ jokes and distractions, which downplays any serious fear of the storm or their mother’s surgery.
d the narrator uses their experience with storms in the past to calm their fears, showing that they are not truly concerned about the situation.

Explanation:

’s control, leading to feelings of powerlessness and worry—matching option A. Options B, C, D contradict the text (no comfort in storm passing, focus isn’t on friends’ jokes, no past storm experience to calm fears).

Answer:

’s control, leading to feelings of powerlessness and worry—matching option A. Options B, C, D contradict the text (no comfort in storm passing, focus isn’t on friends’ jokes, no past storm experience to calm fears).