Read this sentence from “the most dangerous game” by richard connell:

after the debacle in russia i left the country, for it was imprudent for an officer of the czar to stay there.

what is the meaning of the word debacle in this sentence?

war
failure
celebration
success

Read the excerpt from "the love song of j. alfred prufrock." and indeed there will be time to wonder, “do i dare? ” and, “do i dare? ” time to turn back and descend the stair, with a bald spot in the middle of my hair— [they will say: “how his hair is growing thin! ”] my morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin, my necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin— [they will say: “but how his arms and legs are thin! ”] do i dare disturb the universe? in a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse. which lines indicate that the speaker is concerned about what others think of him?

What is a word that is stronger than "beautiful"

London includes a quote about john thornton as he is observing hal attempt to motivate the exhausted dogs "it was idle, he knew, to get between a fool and his folly". if the word "idle" is defined as "of no real worth, importance, or significance", what does this statement mean with regard to hal? who is the fool? what is hal's folly? why would john thornton think it of no real worth or useless to intervene?