Question

read the excerpt from act 1 of hamlet.
bernardo: tis now struck twelve; get thee to bed,
francisco.
what is the meaning of the underlined phrase?
○ this is twelve.
○ its twelve oclock.
○ twelve things have fallen.
○ a man was hit twelve times.

Explanation:

In the context of Hamlet (a literary work), the phrase "’Tis now struck twelve" uses archaic language. "’Tis" is a contraction of "It is", and "struck twelve" refers to the clock striking twelve (indicating the time is twelve o’clock). The other options misinterpret the phrase: "This is twelve" is a literal misreading, "Twelve things have fallen" misinterprets "struck", and "A man was hit twelve times" is irrelevant.

Answer:

B. It's twelve o'clock.