Question

Read the excerpt from The Fellowship of the Ring.

Then the weather clouded over. That was on Wednesday the eve of the Party. Anxiety was intense. Then Thursday, September the 22nd, actually dawned. The sun got up, the clouds vanished, flags were unfurled and the fun began.

Bilbo Baggins called it a party, but it was really a variety of entertainments rolled into one. Practically everybody living near was invited. A very few were overlooked by accident, but as they turned up all the same, that did not matter.

What do readers learn about the setting in this excerpt?

The weather is cloudy on the day of the party.
The community anxiously awaits the gathering.
Only a few neighbors are invited to the party.
Only Bilbo is concerned with the weather.

Answer 1

The community anxiously awaits the gathering.

The excerpt says “Anxiety was intense” and “Practically everybody living near was invited,” which supports that the local community is eagerly awaiting the party. The other choices contradict the passage (the party day turned sunny; most neighbors were invited; nothing says only Bilbo cared about the weather).