Question

read the excerpt from hamlet act i scene i
marcellus: is it not like the king?
horatio: as thou art to thyself.
such was the very armour he had on
when he the ambitious norway combated,
so frownd he once, when, in an angry parle,
he smote the sledded polacks on the ice.
tis strange.
marcellus: thus twice before, and jump at this dead
hour,
with martial stalk hath he gone by our watch
horatio: in what particular thought to work i know
not,
but in the gross and scope of my opinion,
this bodes some strange eruption to our state.
what do marcelluss and horatios characterization
of the ghost imply?
that a large battle is looming
that someone is tricking them
that the kingdom is cursed
that something bad is going on

Explanation:

Horatio's statement "This bodes some strange eruption to our state" indicates that the appearance of the ghost (which resembles the dead king) is a sign of something amiss in the kingdom. Marcellus' mention of the ghost appearing at a "dead hour" and with a "martial stalk" also adds to the sense of unease. There is no indication of an impending large - scale battle (no mention of troops massing etc.), no clear evidence of trickery (as they seem to genuinely believe in the ghost's appearance), and while a curse could be a form of something bad, the more general and immediate implication from their words is that something bad is currently unfolding or about to unfold in the kingdom.

Answer:

that something bad is going on