Read the excerpt from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard. GUIL ( musing ) The law of probability, it has been oddly asserted, is something to do with the proposition that if six monkeys ( he has surprised himself ) . . . if six monkeys were . . . ROS Game? GUIL Were they? ROS Are you? GUIL ( understanding ) Game. ( Flips a coin .) The law of averages, if I have got this right, means that if six monkeys were thrown up in the air for long enough they would land on their tails about as often as they would land on their— ROS Heads. ( He picks up the coin .) GUIL Which even at first glance does not strike one as a particularly rewarding speculation, in either sense, even without the monkeys. I mean you wouldn’t bet on it. I mean I would, but you wouldn’t. . . . ROS Heads. . . . . . . ( He looks up at Guil—embarrassed laugh .) Getting a bit of a bore, isn’t it? Which statement best explains how the conflicting perspectives in this excerpt will move the story forward?
Answer
A
They show that the characters will begin to drift apart.
B
They show that the characters will work to see things similarly.
C
They show that the characters will stop flipping the coin.
D
They show that the characters will respond to events differently.
Explanation
Guil treats the coin tosses as evidence to think about probability, while Ros focuses on the immediate game and keeps calling the result “heads.” Their contrasting ways of interpreting the same events suggest that they will react differently as the story unfolds. The excerpt does not show them trying to become more alike or deciding to stop flipping the coin.
AI-written and checked against the verified answer.