Question

the search party’s find
by grant allen (excerpt)
in this excerpt from the beckoning hand and other stories, the narrator, a surgeon, joins an arctic expedition to escape a broken engagement. one of the expedition’s members is a man by the name of lemarchant, who quickly becomes one of the team’s most despised members. to the narrator’s horror, he learns that lemarchant is now engaged to his former love. when lemarchant learns this, he sets in motion a plan that has a terrible consequence for both men.
(1) presently, i heard a noise again, and woke up quietly, without starting, but just opened my eyes and peered about as well as the dim light of the little oil-lamp would allow me.
(2) to my great surprise, i could make out somehow that lemarchant was meddling with the bottles in the medicine-chest.
(3) at four i woke, as i always did, and proceeded to take one of my powders. curiously enough, before i tasted it, the grain appeared to me to be rather coarser and more granular than the quinine¹ i had originally put there. i took a pinch between my finger and thumb, and placed it on my tongue by way of testing it. instead of being bitter, the powder, i found, was insipid² and almost tasteless
(4) glancing accidentally to his place that moment, i was vaguely
1
select the correct answer from the drop-down menu.
look at the underlined details in paragraphs 7–10
(7) i rose up and went over to lemarchant’s side. horror of horrors, he was sleeping soundly!
(8) i laid the altered powder quietly by his pillow, took away his that i had laid out in readiness for him, and crept back to my own place noiselessly. there i lay awake, hot and feverish, wondering to myself hour after hour when he would ever wake and take it.
(9) at last he woke, and looked over towards me with unusual interest. “hullo, doctor,” he said quite genially, “how are you this morning, eh? getting on well, i hope.” it was the first time during all my illness that he had ever inquired after me
the author uses these details to drop - down menu and build suspense over the course of the three paragraphs.
drop - down menu options: intensify the slow passage of time, focus on lemarchant’s illness, reveal the narrator’s thoughts, move the reader through the event quickly

Explanation:

The underlined details in paragraphs 7 - 10 show the narrator's actions (laying powder, taking hat, creeping back) and his state (laying awake, hot, feverish, wondering). These details are focused on what the narrator is doing and thinking. The other options: "intensify the slow passage of time" is not the main focus as the key is on the narrator's actions/thoughts; "focus on Lemarchant's illness" - the details are more about the narrator; "move the reader through the event quickly" - the description is detailed and not quick - paced.

Answer:

reveal the narrator's thoughts