In the second paragraph of the story, what connotation is carried by the phrase "he nearly ran down the sidewalk"?
a) it implies david's guilt.
b) it implies david's fright.
c) it suggests david's eagerness.
d) it suggests david's confusion.

a change of plans
azure westin

david and his mother walked down the sidewalk. they had a tradition of going to the park every saturday morning. they enjoyed these trips and tried not to miss them. however, the past three weekends their family had other plans, so they had to miss their weekly visit.

“i’m so glad we’re going to the park today,” david said. he nearly ran down the sidewalk with his soccer ball in his hands. i think miguel and steve will be there, and we can practice our soccer dribbling.”

david decided to show off and started bouncing the ball on his knees while he walked. his mother laughed, but warned him to pay attention to where he was walking. suddenly, they both heard a large crash, and david jumped with fright. then they saw a huge flash in the sky. a thunderstorm was developing nearby. david’s mother explained that it was too dangerous to be out walking or at the park, so they would have to go home.

“but mom! ” david exclaimed. “i haven’t been to the park in nearly a month. i’ll never be a star soccer player if i don’t make time to practice.”

“sorry, david,” she said. “i was looking forward to our visit too, but we can’t take a risk with this dangerous weather.”

david huffed, and turned around to walk back home. crash! they heard another crash of thunder, and they both started walking even more quickly home. just then, a cold wind swept passed them, blowing a layer of leaves and dirt off the sidewalk. the air cooled quickly, and they both realized the storm was moving directly toward them.

“let’s run, so we make it home before it starts to rain,” his mother said.

david and his mother ran quickly down the sidewalk, occasionally looking at the gray clouds forming overhead. finally, they reached their house and ran up the steps. just as david’s mother put the key in the door, a few large raindrops began to hit the pavement. she opened the door, they ran inside, and then the rain began to pour down.

david looked out the window in amazement - the rain was falling so hard that it was hard to see the street in front of his house. then he saw white specks coming down from the sky and bouncing off the pavement.

“oh my! it’s hailing! ” his mother said.

david had never seen anything like it before, so he looked closely at the white specks on the ground.

“is that ice lying on the ground? ” david asked.

“yes,” said his mother. “even though it’s warm and summerlike here on the ground, the atmosphere can be really cold - cold enough to make ice. when that happens, a thunderstorm can make hail in the sky and then it falls as a type of precipitation -
similar to snow and rain.”

david could hardly believe what his mother was telling him. he asked if he could do some research about hail on the computer. david then learned that hail forms when raindrops are pushed higher in the atmosphere, where it is cold. the raindrops freeze high in the atmosphere. then, the frozen drops collide with other drops, forming larger balls. david then ran outside and collected some of the pieces of hail, which had begun to melt, and put them in the freezer.

“i want to keep a few samples,” said david. “did you know that some hail can be as large as baseballs? ”

david’s mother smiled as he read her additional facts from the articles he had read. she noticed that the sun was shining outside. she walked to the widow and looked up at the sky and realized that the storm had passed. she suggested that she and david go back to the park so he could practice his soccer skills.

“let’s try that again next week,” david said. “i like that we had a change of plans today.”