Question

question 8 of 20
read the following excerpt from life on the mississippi by mark twain:

the town drunkard stirs, the clerks wake up, a furious
clatter of drays follows, every house and store pours out a
human contribution, and all in a twinkling the dead town is
alive and moving.

how does twain use an idiom in this excerpt?

a. to lend a magical quality to the sentence through the use of
imagery

b. to describe how quickly the once sleepy town comes alive

c. to summarize the cumulative actions detailed in the sentence

d. to show that everyone in the town has an important job to do

Explanation:

The idiom here is "in a twinkling", which means very quickly. The excerpt describes the town going from being "dead" (sleepy) to alive and moving rapidly. Option A is about imagery (not idiom's role), C is about summarizing actions (the idiom doesn't summarize but emphasizes speed), D is about job importance (not related). So B matches as it explains the idiom's use to show the town's quick transformation.

Answer:

B. To describe how quickly the once sleepy town comes alive