Question

a beartown man, and that may not mean a thing anywhere else, but it means something here. 8 so how important can the semifinal of a junior tournament be? being the best junior team around would remind the rest of the country of this places existence again. and then the politicians might decide to spend the money to establish a hockey school here instead of over in hed, so that the most talented kids in this part of the country would want to move to beartown instead of the big cities. so that an a - team full of homegrown players could make it to the highest division again, attract the biggest sponsors once more, get the council to build a new rink and bigger roads leading to it, maybe even the conference center and shopping mall theyve been talking about for years. so that new businesses could appear and create more jobs so that the townspeople might start thinking about renovating their homes instead of selling them. it would only be important to the towns economy. to its pride. to its survival. 9 its only so important that a seventeen - year - old in a private garden has been standing here since he got frostbite on his cheeks one night ten years ago, firing puck after puck after puck with the weight of an entire community on his shoulders. 10 it means everything. thats all. 16 how are paragraphs 8 through 10 important to the development of the plot? a they show kevin overcoming an emotional experience of his youth. b they reveal that kevin wants something different than what the town wants. c they introduce the idea of kevin leaving the community to play elsewhere. d they explain how kevins abilities may help the entire community.

Explanation:

Paragraphs 8 - 10 discuss the significance of the junior tournament semifinal for Beartown. It mentions how being the best junior team could boost the town's economy (new businesses, jobs), pride, and survival. Kevin, a key figure (implied by the context of a talented player), has the ability (through hockey skills) that can bring these positive changes (like attracting sponsors, getting infrastructure built). This shows how his abilities (as a hockey player) can help the community (economy, pride, survival).

Answer:

D. They explain how Kevin's abilities may help the entire community.