Question

Read these lines from the excerpt again:

He was restive all through it; he kept tally of the details of the prayer, unconsciously-for he was not listening, but he knew the ground of old, and the clergyman's regular route over it-and when a little trifle of new matter was interlarded, his ear detected it and his whole nature resented it; he considered additions unfair, and scoundrelly.

Which word from the excerpt helps define the word trifle?
a. Route
b. Details
c. Ground
d. Tally

Answer 1

My answer is B) Details.

Answer 2

b. Details.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the passage above, the narrator speaks of a person who seems to be quite fond of routine and of a spiritual dogmatic persuasion. As the person in the narration listens to the prayers, he is restive and tranquil as he listens to the prayer following familiar paths, but as soon as “a little trifle” is included in the prayer, his whole being reacts against it. Through the context of the passage, one can safely assume that by trifle, the speaker means that new details, perhaps of a contemporary fact or event, foreign to the prayer, are included in the flow of the prayer.