Outside mark could hear the howling of the wind and a screeching as the tree's limbs scraped the side of the house. the wind was blowing the shutters wildly against his window with a sharp bang bang bang that made him grip his sheets intensely. he snapped his eyes shut and begged for the storm to pass. which sentence consistently reflects the tone of the paragraph? a) mark took a deep breath and began laughing at his ridiculousness. b) mark dozed off to sleep and thought no more of the trouble outside. c) just then, a loud crack of thunder startled mark so badly that he screamed. d) giving up on falling back to sleep, mark decided to play video games instead.

The sentence that consistently reflects the tone of the paragraph is C) Just then, a loud crack of thunder startled Mark so badly that he screamed.

Explanation:

We are being asked to choose the sentence that consistently reflects the tone of the paragraph. Throughout the paragraph, the author describes how fierce the storm is and how scary it looks and sounds to Mark, the character. Mark is frightened to the point of gripping his sheets intensely and begging for the storm to pass. If he fears the storm so much, it does not make sense for Mark to simply laugh at his ridiculousness, doze off to sleep, or simply decide to play video games. To keep the consistency in what has been presented, it would be only logical for him to end up screaming in fear after hearing a thunder. Thus, the best option is letter C.