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Directions (Q121–125): In each of the following questions, a short passage is given with one of the lines missing and represented by a blank. Select the best of the five answer choices given to make the passage complete and coherent. The Time Traveler (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought roams gracefully free of the trammels of precision. (__________)

1. And slowly and steadily, the atmosphere grew stale and lost all the vibrancy it had
2. And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity
3. We sat like toddlers do in a nursery, eagerly anticipating the show the Time Traveler would put on for us
4. We sat benumbed by the proceedings, for the radiance of the Time Traveler was unimaginable and unbearable
5. I caught Filby’s eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he winked at me solemnly

Correct answer: And he put it to us in this way—marking the points with a lean forefinger—as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it) and his fecundity

Solution

The passage builds an atmosphere and then needs a line that smoothly introduces the Time Traveler’s explanation. The correct option continues the narration by showing him presenting his points clearly and earnestly. It fits the tone and flow of the original passage from *The Time Machine*.

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