Read this sentence and answer the question below:
ray and his friends weren't normally into sports, but that summer he never missed a pittsburgh pirates game; he turned into a fanatic who was devastated whenever his favorite team lost.
which phrase from the sentence gives the most clue to the meaning of fanatic?
a. ray and his friends
b. weren't into most sports
c. never missed
d. favorite team lost

Read the selection below and answer the question. an open boat by alfred noyes o, what is that whimpering there in the darkness? 

 'let him lie in my arms. he is breathing, i know.
 look. i'll wrap all my hair round his neck' – the sea's rising,
 the boat must be lightened. he's dead. he must go.' 


 see - quick - by that flash, where the bitter foam tosses, 
 the cloud of white faces, in the black open boat, 
 and the wild pleading woman that clasps her dead lover 
 and wraps her loose hair round his breast and his throat.
 'come, lady, he's dead.' - 'no, i feel his heart beating,
 he's living, i know. but he's numbed with the cold. 
 see, i'm wrapping my hair all around him to warm him.' -
- 'no. we can't keep the dead, dear. come, loosen your hold.

 'come. loosen your fingers.' - 'o god, let me keep him! ' -
 o, hide it, black night! let the winds have their way! 
 and there are no voices or ghosts from that darkness, 
 to fret the bare seas at the breaking of day. which choice best describes the conflict in this poem? the winds are rocking the boat. a man is thrown into the sea. a woman doesn’t want to let go of her dead lover. someone is crying in the darkness.

Is the slightly humorous tone of kristof's essay inappropriate for a discussion of deliberately killing wild animals? why or why not?

Based on the context of each quote from incidents in the life of a slave girl by harriet ann jacobs, find the word that most closely matches thedenotation of the bolded word