02.10 an Excellent ending pls help it is about gaming

Plz asap read this sentence from paragraph 3 of the article. the boys and girls are merely asked to obtain the signatures of ten friends or relatives. how does the word "merely" affect the meaning of the sentence? a- it suggests that asking people to subscribe to the washington times is something negative. b- it implies that obtaining ten signatures is not a requirement for receiving a prize. c- it downplays the fact that to win the prize, children must ask people to subscribe to the washington times. d- it emphasizes that children receive the prize only if they obtain ten signatures.

He had fished in the river since ten years and he was a good fisherman. he know where to found the slim sliver chilwa fish, a big beautiful mahseer and the long moustache singhara. he know where the river was deep but where it is shallow; he knew which baits to use - which fish like worms and which liked gram. edit the above

Which two lines in this excerpt from leo tolstoy's the death of ivan ilyich together use symbolism to indicate that death is approaching?