Question

A view of a town on a hill. The buildings are gray on a green hillside. Above the town the sky is filled with dark, swirling clouds.
Which opening sentences create a mood that is similar to the mood of this landscape?

“It was a dark and stormy night.”
“The black clouds seemed dangerous and full of ill will.”
“A tear ran down her cheek as the cold wind blew the ribbon from her hair.”
“Nothing good could come of it. Simon knew the signs of trouble, and they were everywhere.”
“The town had long been cursed, but no one knew when it had all begun.”

Answer 1

The sentences that match the landscape’s gloomy, ominous mood are 1, 2, 4, and 5.

Briefly:
- 1 (“It was a dark and stormy night.”) — classic foreboding/weather-driven gloom.
- 2 (“The black clouds seemed dangerous and full of ill will.”) — directly echoes the threatening sky.
- 4 (“Nothing good could come of it…signs of trouble…everywhere.”) — general sense of doom and menace.
- 5 (“The town had long been cursed…”) — sinister, ominous history tied to the town.

Sentence 3 is more personal and melancholic rather than broadly ominous, so it fits less well.