What is the purpose of the verb phrase in the sentence?

Read the excerpt from the odyssey; 'o cyclops! would you feast on my companions? puny am i, in a caveman's hands? how do you like the beating that we gave you, you d(arn)ed cannibal? eater of guests under your roof! zeus and the gods have paid you! ' according to this excerpt, odysseus (a)is fearful of the cyclops. (b)is prideful and overly confident. (c)has been weakened by the cyclops. (d)has regrets about staying on the island.

The greatest gift the sumerians gave the world was the invention of writing. the sumerians were a wealthy people. they needed some way to keep track of what they owned. they began drawing pictures. they used a reed as a pen. they drew on soft pieces of clay. the soft clay was then dried in the sun. the tablet became a permanent record. later, the sumerian drawings changed into wedge-shaped symbols. this kind of writing is called cuneiform. by putting symbols together, the sumerians could write entire sentences.

The difference between the present reservoir, with its silent sterile shores and debris-choked side canyons, and the original glen canyon, is the difference between death and life. glen canyon was alive. lake powell is a graveyard. which word best contributes to the author’s sad tone?