Question

Which sentence from the passage best supports the author’s viewpoint that the situation is hopeless?

“We all pulled our soaked blankets tighter around our shoulders.”
“The lament spread from wagon to wagon.”
“It was contagious.”
“The death rattle of an entire convoy with the end approaching.”

Answer 1

“The death rattle of an entire convoy with the end approaching.”

Reason: “Death rattle” and “the end approaching” explicitly convey imminent, inevitable doom—stronger evidence of hopelessness than the other, less final descriptions.