Read this excerpt from Chapter 14 of The Secret Garden. And they laughed so that in the end they were making as much noise as if they had been two ordinary healthy natural ten-year-old creatures—instead of a hard, little, unloving girl and a sickly boy who believed that he was going to die.

What is the effect of the word choice on the meaning of the excerpt?

A)It highlights how loud the children are when they are together.

B)It shows the positive effect their interaction has had on them.

C)It reminds the reader of the children's underlying unhappiness.

D)It emphasizes how much effort it will take the children to behave themselves.

What is the effect of the word choice on the meaning of the excerpt?

A)It highlights how loud the children are when they are together.✔

B)It shows the positive effect their interaction has had on them.❌

C)It reminds the reader of the children's underlying unhappiness.❌

D)It emphasizes how much effort it will take the children to behave themselves.❌

The correct answer is "It shows the positive effect their interaction has had on them."

Explanation: I took the test and got it right.

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).