Read this passage:
the man was shocked. it was as though he had just heard
his own sentence of death. for a moment he sat and
stared at the spot where the fire had been. then he grew
very calm. perhaps the old-timer on sulphur creek was
right. if he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in
no danger now. the trail-mate could have built the fire.
well, it was up to him to build the fire over again, and this
second time there must be no failure. even if he
succeeded, he would most likely lose some toes. his feet
must be badly frozen by now, and there would be some
time before the second fire was ready.
what inference can you make about the man from the evidence in this
passage from "to build a fire"?

a. his feet are already badly frozen from the cold.

b. he regrets not listening to the old man's advice.

c. the man must now build the fire a second time.

d. it will take him some time to build a second fire.

The best option is letter B) He regrets not listening to the old man's advice.

Explanation:

All the options are correct in the sense that they all present true information contained in the passage we just read. However, the question is asking us what inference we can make. An inference is a conclusion we can make based on reasoning and evidence. The passage offers us a certain evidence when it says, "Perhaps the old-timer on Sulphur Creek was  right. If he had only had a trail-mate he would have been in  no danger now. The trail-mate could have built the fire." From this evidence, we can safely infer that the man regrets not listening to the old man's advice. Now that he is in trouble, he can see how wise it would have been to not come alone to the woods with such cruel weather. Having someone else with him would have improved his chances of surviving.

"To Build a Fire" is a short story by Jack London. The conflict developed in it is man vs nature as the main character underestimates the weather and overestimates his own skills. Unfortunately, he does not survive the cold.

the conclusion would be the most affected category scoring

in the short story the slip-over sweater by jesse stuart, the main character and narrator shan is friends with grace, an intelligent girl he has known since childhood and with whom he used to be in love.

at the beginning of the story, shan believes he’s no longer in love with grace, but loves jo-anne instead. in order to buy a slip-over sweater and have jo-anne wear it so that the other students would know she loved him too, shan takes a loan at the bank.

while jo-anne is wearing shan’s sweater, his friend grace starts to wear another popular boy’s one, roy’s sweater. because of that, the other students begin to pay attention to grace and compliment her perseverance and effort. they admire her for walking 5 miles to school every day, despite the weather, and still getting the best grades. shan, who knows all of that for a fact, says, as the narrator, ‘and i knew she had the durability and the toughness of a storm-battered mountain oak.’ he compares his friend’s strength – not only physical, but also of character – to an oak tree, whose wood is known for being sturdy.

as the story goes on, shan changes his behavior out of concern for the debt he has to pay at the bank. his new girlfriend jo-anne never asks him what is wrong nor offers any sort of . instead, she breaks up with shan for not being as fun as she thought he was supposed to be. grace, however, not only asks about shan’s problem, but him make the money he needs. shan can’t but notice how different the girls are and what a wonderful person grace is.   even though he used to find jo-anne prettier at the beginning of the story, he now says, ‘grace was as beautiful as our mountain was in april, prettier than a blossom of wild phlox or a mountain daisy.’ his comparing grace to a mountain or something that exists on a mountain (such as a mountain oak or daisy) certainly has important meaning since shan loves the mountain and everything about it and he knows the mountain thoroughly. shan also loves and knows grace as completely as he does the mountain.