Question

Which sentence best shows that the rat overestimates his abilities?

One day a little brown beetle was crawling along a wall when a big grey rat ran out of a hole in the wall and looked down scornfully at the little beetle. (paragraph 2)

The big grey rat ran to the end of the wall, wheeled around, and came back to the place where the little beetle was slowly crawling along at only a tiny distance from where the rat had left her. (paragraph 3)

“Why, you talk just as if you thought you had a chance to win the race,” he said, when he could speak. (paragraph 9)

Then he started to run more slowly but every time his heart beat it said, “Hurry up! Hurry up!” (paragraph 11)

which one is the correct answer?

Answer 1

The sentence that best shows that the rat overestimates his abilities is:

“Why, you talk just as if you thought you had a chance to win the race,” he said, when he could speak. (paragraph 9)

This sentence indicates that the rat believes he is far superior to the beetle and dismisses any notion that the beetle could compete with him, thus reflecting his overestimation of his own abilities.