Read this passage from h. g. wells's the war of the worlds: and invisible to me because it was so remote and small, flying swiftly and steadily towards me across that incredible distance, drawing nearer every minute by so many thousands of miles, came the thing they were sending to us, the thing that was to bring so much struggle and calamity and death to the earth.
which statement best explains why wells calls the martian spacecraft "the thing"?
a. wells calls it "the thing" to explain to readers how unimportant it is to the rest of the story. b. wells calls it "the thing" to give readers the impression that it's almost too terrible to name or describe. c. wells calls it "the thing" to describe what the ship and the creatures within it look like to readers. d. wells calls it "the thing" to provide readers with the proper name he will use for it later.

Select the correct text in the passage. in richard connell's short story "the most dangerous game," zaroffs aristocratic appearance and dignified manners mask his sinister, animalistic nature. which line from the excerpt best provides a glimpse into his true nature? rainsford's first impression was that the man was singularly handsome; his second was that there was an original, almost bizarre quality about the general's face. he was a tall man past middle age, for his hair was a vivid white; but his thick eyebrows and pointed military mustache were as black as the night from which rainsford had come. his eyes, too, were black and very bright. he had high cheekbones, a sharpcut nose, a spare, dark face-the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocrat. turning to the giant in uniform, the general made a sign. the giant put away his pistol, saluted, withdrew. "ivan is an incredibly strong fellow," remarked the general, "but he has the misfortune to be deaf and dumb. a simple fellow, but, i'm afraid, like all his race, a bit of a savage." "is he russian? " "he is a cossack," said the general, and his smile showed red lips and pointed teeth. "so am i." half apologetically general zaroff said, "we do our best to preserve the amenities of civilization here. forgive any lapses. we are well off the beaten track, you know." laughter shook the general. "how extraordinarily droll you are! " he said. "one does not expect nowadays to find a young man of the educated class, even in america, with such a naive, and, if i may say so, mid-victorian point of view. it's like finding a snuffbox in a limousine. ah, well, doubtless you