Read the excerpt from chapter 7 of Night . We all got up. We all pulled our soaked blankets tighter around our shoulders. And we tried to take a few steps, to shuffle back and forth, in place. Suddenly, a cry rose in the wagon, the cry of a wounded animal. Someone had just died. Others, close to death, imitated his cry. And their cries seemed to come from beyond the grave. Soon everybody was crying. Groaning. Moaning. Cries of distress hurled into the wind and the snow. The lament spread from wagon to wagon. It was contagious. And now hundreds of cries rose at once. The death rattle of an entire convoy with the end approaching. All boundaries had been crossed. Nobody had any strength left. And the night seemed endless. Which sentence from the passage best supports the author’s viewpoint that the situation is hopeless?
Answer
A
“We all pulled our soaked blankets tighter around our shoulders.”
B
“The lament spread from wagon to wagon.”
C
“It was contagious.”
D
“The death rattle of an entire convoy with the end approaching.”
Explanation
The phrase “the end approaching” directly conveys that death is near, while “death rattle” suggests the convoy is dying and cannot be saved. Together, these words best support the viewpoint that the situation is hopeless. The other choices describe the prisoners’ actions or how their cries spread, but do not express hopelessness as directly.
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