Which statement best expresses a theme in the story “the bet”
a: pursuing knowledge and bettering yourself is the best way to spend your time.
b: the desire to prove to others that you’re right can lead to extreme actions.
c: greed and impulsive decisions can lead to huge consequences.

B: the desire to prove to others that you’re right can lead to extreme actions.

In the story, the lawyer and the banker get into an argument about whether or not life imprisonment would be more humane than capital punishment. The banker challenges the lawyer to a bet stating that the lawyer must remain in isolation for 15 years. To prove that he is right, the lawyer takes the bet. The desire to prove himself correct leads the lawyer to take the extreme action of giving up everything and living a life locked up in solitude.

idk but i did find this

explanation:

in the story of the cowardly lion and the hungry tiger, we first see the two characters inside the empty throne room of ozma, bored and sadly very much aware of their uselessness as guardians. they talked about the good old days when they used to be feared. they proceeded to make up stories of how fearsome they were. the cowardly lion professed that he can tear men/women into pieces, while the hungry tiger said he would eat fat babies. but when they proceeded to act upon their words they were forced to realize that they were indeed harmless and good animals who would rather be called cowardly and hungry than harm a woman or eat a child.

mark twain, real name samuel langhorne clemens, was an american writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. among his novels are the adventures of tom sawyer and its sequel, the adventures of huckleberry finn, the latter often called "the great american novel". wikipedia