Question

The following is a student draft and may contain errors.
A Better Home
by Plato Pluit

"Whatever is that noise?" Mrs. Wren exclaimed.
"Must be the neighbors," Mr. Wren offered.
The two birds would never have suspected the home they had only just finished building was about to become part of a large brush pile as the tree trimmers went to work on the oak tree. Branch after branch came falling down from the tree that had spread its limbs over the roof of the house.
Mr. and Mrs. Wren enjoyed their breakfast before returning home to find it gone!
"Wherever is our home!" Mrs. Wren cried. "All our hard work!"
Perched on a small twig, Mr. Wren spied down to the yard and tilted his head at the covered patio. "I wonder..." he mused and darted into the alcove where a baker's rack stood next to a small table and two chairs. The woman and small child who lived in the house ate breakfast at the table at times but not often. On the top shelf of the baker's rack, hidden and forgotten behind plastic ivy, was an empty African violet pot. It was just the right size, well shaded and well hidden, and colored in lavender hues.
"Wife, we will build here!" Mr. Wren chirped from his perch on the clay pot.
"Oh, husband! It is lovely. We will make our new home here even better and fancier than the one we lost, and it will also have the nicest roof. We mustn't dawdle now." She turned to find her husband already gone. Before she could take a wing, he swooped in with dry grasses.
The couple spent the afternoon constructing their new home, delighted they didn't have to fly far for the long, dried grasses. While the woman and small child kept their yard green and neat, the neighbor two doors down had plenty of dry grass and twigs. Soon Mr. Wren was winging in with brown leaves to finish the roof, and Mrs. Wren brought dark green ones as she wanted "some nice color for the children."



1
Which introduction would be best to add to the passage?
A.
Mr. and Mrs. Wren had been pecking around a forgotten pile of flagstones in the backyard, looking for snail shells, when they heard the commotion.
B.
Mr. and Mrs. Wren lived in an old oak tree with many other creatures and friends.
C.
Mr. and Mrs. Wren had been pecking around a forgotten pile of flagstones in the backyard when they realized that their home was being torn down.
D.
Mr. and Mrs. Wren lived in an old oak tree that was about to be torn down.

Answer 1

The best introduction to add to the passage is:

**C. Mr. and Mrs. Wren had been pecking around a forgotten pile of flagstones in the backyard when they realized that their home was being torn down.**

This introduction effectively sets the stage for the conflict of the story by indicating that Mr. and Mrs. Wren are unaware of the impending danger to their home. It leads smoothly into the narrative where they hear the noise and later discover that their home has been destroyed. It creates immediate context and tension, enhancing the reader's understanding of the story's situation.