(heart of a samurai). goemon jumped up. "agreed," he said, jamming his "knife" into his sash and slashing at manjiro's "sword." their imaginary swords clashed and clattered as they lunged or leaped aside to avoid being hit. how does the author make the excerpt exciting? she changes the pace from slow to fast. she creates a conflict between two characters. she uses strong and precise action words. she changes the pace from fast to slow

The answer is: She uses strong and precise action words.

The words "slashing", "clashed", "clattered", "lunged" and "leaped" help the reader to visualize the action, the swiftness of the characters' moves. They are action verbs and the fact that so many of them are combined to describe the imaginary fight that takes place in the excerpt contributes to the sensation of movement and quickness. Unlike watching a movie - a viewer being a passive receptacle of what the scenes portray -, when reading a book it's up to the reader to see it in their mind, but it's up to the writer to describe it in a way that helps visualization.

the answer is b. the tomb is underground and dark, and its opening is covered by a heavy grate.