Question

by o. henry (excerpt)

dollar and eighty-seven cents. that was all. and sixty
was in pennies. pennies saved one and two at a time
from her grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher
when she carried the vege silent imputation of parsimony
that such dealing implied. three times della counted it. one
dollar and eighty-seven cents. and the next day would be
christmas.

(2) there was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby
little couch and howl. so della did it. which instigates the moral
reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with
sniffles predominating.

(3) while the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the
first stage to the second, take a look at the home. a furnished flat
at $8 per week. it did not exactly beggar description, but it
certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.

(4) in the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter
would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger
could coax a ring. also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing
the name \mr. james dillingham young.\ the \dillingham\ had
been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity
when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. now, when the
income was shrunk to $20, the letters of \dillingham\ looked
blurred, as though they were thinking seriously of contracting to a
modest and unassuming d. but whenever mr. james dillingham
young came home and reached his flat above he was called
\jim\ and greatly hugged by mrs. james dillingham young,
already introduced to you as della. which is all very good.

(5) della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the
powder rag. she stood by the window and looked out dully at a
grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard. tomorrow
would be christmas day, and she had only $1.87 with which to

select the correct answer

read the following sentence from the passage

(8) had king solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, jim would have pulled out his
watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.

which phrase best states the meaning of \pluck at his beard\ as used in the excerpt?

a. to be accepting

b. to be amused

c. to be annoyed

d. to be approving

reset next

Explanation:

The phrase "pluck at his beard" is used in a context where Della is imagining King Solomon (a very wise and wealthy king) as a janitor. She thinks that if King Solomon had all his treasures and saw her watch, he would be annoyed (as in, he would be bothered or irritated) by her showing off her watch. The other options (accepting, amused, approving) don't fit the tone of the sentence which implies a negative reaction from King Solomon in that situation.

Answer:

C. to be annoyed