Question

somehow, the rag - tag bunch of lexington minutemen werent able to kill even a single british soldier, despite the fact that the british lined up in a straight line to fire and were wearing bright red coats. the british moved on to concord, expecting another easy battle. in concord, however, hundreds of minutemen took position behind stone walls, houses, barns and trees, in a kind of primitive guerrilla fighting style. the british were sitting ducks they took fire from minutemen snipers hidden in trees and behind houses. the vulnerable british troops retreated to boston. by the end of the first day of the revolutionary war, the british counted 73 dead and 174 wounded. what is the meaning of the underlined phrase in the passage above? choose one option a british troops were vulnerable to attack by the hidden minutemen. b british troops were sitting on the ground in the same position that ducks sometimes take. c the british often hunted for ducks in the woods around concord and lexington. d british troops were taking care of ducks while their commanders were away.

Explanation:

To determine the meaning of "the British were sitting ducks", we analyze the context. The Minutemen were hidden (behind walls, houses, etc.) and firing at the British. "Sitting ducks" implies being an easy target. Option A states the British were vulnerable to attack by hidden Minutemen, which matches the context. Option B's literal "sitting like ducks" is incorrect as it's an idiom. Options C and D are irrelevant to the battle context.

Answer:

A. British troops were vulnerable to attack by the hidden Minutemen.