Read the excerpt from "The Lottery."
A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. "All ready?" he called. "Now, I'll read the names – heads of families first – and the men come up and take a paper out of the box. Keep the paper folded in your hand without looking at it until everyone has had a turn. Everything clear?" The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions: most of them were quiet, wetting their lips, not looking around. Then Mr. Summers raised one hand high and said, "Adams." A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi, Steve." Mr. Summers said, and Mr. Adams said, "Hi, Joe." They grinned at one another humorlessly and nervously. Then Mr. Adams reached into the black box and took out a folded paper. He held it firmly by one corner as he turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand.
Which phrase from the excerpt best reveals how the social environment shifts as the lottery begins?
A) A sudden hush fell on the crowd as Mr. Summers cleared his throat and looked at the list. "All ready?" he called.
B)The people had done it so many times that they only half listened to the directions . . .
C) A man disengaged himself from the crowd and came forward. "Hi, Steve." Mr. Summers said, and Mr. Adams said, "Hi, Joe."
D) [H]e turned and went hastily back to his place in the crowd, where he stood a little apart from his family, not looking down at his hand.
