Question

the open window by saki
(info about the passage: a british author who wrote under the pen name saki,
hector hugh munro (1870 - 1916) is well - known for his satires of british
society in the early 20th century. in this story, a man with a nervous condition
1 \my aunt will be down presently, mr. nuttel, \ said a very self - possessed
young lady of fifteen; \in the meantime you must try and put up with me.\
framton nuttel endeavored to say the correct something which should duly
flatter the niece of the moment without unduly discounting the aunt that was
to come. privately he doubted more than ever whether these formal visits on a
succession of total strangers would do much towards helping the nerve cure
which he was supposed to be undergoing.
\i know how it will be, \ his sister had said when he was preparing to migrate
to this rural retreat; \you will bury yourself down there and not speak to a
living soul, and your nerves will be worse than ever from moping. i shall just
as far as i can remember, were quite nice.\
give you letters of introduction to all the people i know there. some of them,
framton wondered whether mrs. sappleton, the lady to whom he was
presenting one of the letters of introduction came into the nice division.
5 \do you know many of the people round here? \ asked the niece, when
she judged that they had had sufficient silent communion.

• hardly a soul, \ said framton. \my sister was staying here, at the rectory,

1. why does vera tell a frightening story to unsettle mr. nuttel?

a. to genuinely warn him about the windows significance
b. to test his reaction to supernatural stories
c. to amuse herself by playing on his nerves
d. to distract him from his own nervous condition

Explanation:

In "The Open Window," Vera is a mischievous character. Her motive for telling the frightening story to Mr. Nuttel is to amuse herself by exploiting his nervous condition. Option A is incorrect as she doesn't genuinely warn him (the story is a fabrication). Option B is wrong because she isn't testing his reaction to supernatural stories for any serious purpose. Option D is incorrect as she isn't trying to distract him from his nervous condition; rather, she's using it for her own amusement. So the correct reason is that she wants to amuse herself by playing on his nerves.

Answer:

C. To amuse herself by playing on his nerves