The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open that he might keep his eye upon his clerk, who in a dismal little cell beyond, a sort of tank, was copying letters. Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal. But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room; and so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part.
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
part a What do Scrooge’s actions toward his clerk suggest about their relationship?
A. Scrooge keeps the door open to communicate better with his clerk.
B. Scrooge keeps the door open because he does not trust his clerk.
C. Scrooge keeps the door open to share the fire with his clerk.
D. Scrooge keeps the door open to force his clerk to ask for the shovel.
Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “The door of Scrooge’s counting-house was open that he might keep his eye on his clerk . . . "
B. “Scrooge had a very small fire, but the clerk’s fire was so very much smaller that it looked like one coal.”
C. “But he couldn’t replenish it, for Scrooge kept the coal-box in his own room . . ."
D. “ . . . so surely as the clerk came in with the shovel, the master predicted that it would be necessary for them to part.”
