Question

select the passage that has a more despondent tone. day and night were indistinguishable in that ill - smelling cavern of the ships bowels where i lay, and the misery of my situation made time crawl. i longed to hear the ship split upon a rock or feel it reel headfirst into the depths of the sea. at last, sleep stole from me the consciousness of sorrow. i was aware that in the whaling business they paid no wages. however, all the sailors, including the captain, received certain shares of the profits, and these shares were paid in proportion to the type of duties performed. adapted from robert louis stevenson, kidnapped and herman melville, moby - dick

Explanation:

The first passage uses words like "ill - smelling cavern", "misery of my situation", "longed to hear the ship split" which convey a sense of hopelessness and despair (despondent tone). The second passage is more factual, just stating information about the whaling business's payment structure without emotional despair.

Answer:

The first passage (Day and night were indistinguishable... sleep stole from me the consciousness of sorrow) has a more despondent tone.