Read this excerpt from "are dogs dumb? " by karen hopkin.

and how come we think dogs are so smart? sure a dog might be clever enough to fetch his leash when he wants to go out. but the same mutt might also bark at a vacuum cleaner and spend a whole hour chasing his own tail. is rover really any brighter than a hamster, a chicken, or that kid who's always eating play-doh? how can you measure an animal's brain power?

what is the author's purpose in this paragraph?

a.) to entertain readers with a joke about humans eating play-doh

b.) to explain what dogs can and cannot do

c.) to persuade readers that smaller animals aren't necessarily dumb

d.) to give readers information about animal intelligence

Read the excerpt from the war of the worlds, in which the crowd begins to disperse just before the first martian exits the cylinder. when i returned to the common the sun was setting. scattered groups were hurrying from the direction of woking, and one or two persons were returning. the crowd about the pit had increased, and stood out black against the lemon yellow of the sky—a couple of hundred people, perhaps. there were raised voices, and some sort of struggle appeared to be going on about the pit. strange imaginings passed through my mind. as i drew nearer i heard stent's voice: "keep back! keep back! "a boy came running towards me."it's a-movin'," he said to me as he passed; 'a-screwin' and a-screwin' out. i don't like it. i'm a-goin' 'ome, i am."what options accurately depict the impact of the boy's words on pacing within the excerpt? (select all that apply.)the war of the worldsthe setting is in england, so the boy's words provide the reader with the dialect of the area. even though that slows down the plot, the boy's words contain important information. the plot's forward movement is slow at the beginning of the excerpt because there is little action. the boy's words increase the tension and counteract that lag. the narrator is not close enough to see clearly into the pit, so the boy's words provide the narrator with the information he needs, which moves the plot forward. the boy's words serve to speed up the pacing of the plot because, as he is talking to the narrator, he is running past him to get away. the narrator is not close enough to see clearly into the pit, so the boy's words provide the narrator with the information he needs, which moves the plot forward. wrong? the boy's words serve to speed up the pacing of the plot because, as he is talking to the narrator, he is running past him to get away.