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An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge
Ambrose Bierce

Chapter I

1 A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man's hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck. It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the level of his knees. Some loose boards laid upon the ties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners -- two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff. At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was a captain. A sentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as "support," that is to say, vertical in front of the left shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight across the chest -- a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body. It did not appear to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it.

2 Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther along. The other bank of the stream was open ground -- a gentle slope topped with a stockade of vertical tree trunks, loopholed for rifles, with a single embrasure through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon commanding the bridge. Midway up the slope between the bridge and fort were the spectators -- a single company of infantry in line, at "parade rest," the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels inclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock. A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his right. Excepting the group of four at the center of the bridge, not a man moved. The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless. The sentinels, facing the banks of the stream, might have been statues to adorn the bridge. The captain stood with folded arms, silent, observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him. In the code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of deference.

1.At the end of this passage, why is everyone so motionless and quiet?
A) They are unsure of what is going to happen next.
B) They are waiting for instruction from their lieutenant.
C) They are paying reverence to one of their lost
soldiers.
D) They are about to watch someone die, so they are
showing respect.

2.Read the following sentence.
Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those
most familiar with him. In the code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of deference.
Which word best helps the reader understand the meaning of the word deference?
A) respect
B) familiar
C) etiquette
D) silence

3) In the passage An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Why does the author say "It did not appear to be the duty of these two men to
know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it"?
A) To emphasize the fact that the soldiers did not know what was about to happen
B) To emphasize the fact that they respect the soldiers who are about to die.
C) To emphasize the fact that they are simply following the orders of their
commanders. Eliminate
D) To emphasize the fact that the men knew they might be put to death next.