Then he says, slow and scornful:
"The idea of you lynching anybody! It's amusing. The idea of you thinking you had pluck enough to lynch a man! Because you're brave enough to tar and feather poor friendless cast-out women that come along here, did that make you think you had grit enough to lay your hands on a man? Why a man's safe in the hands of ten thousands of your kind--as long as it's daytime and you're not behind him."
"Do I know you?" I know you clear through. I was born and raised in the South, and I've lived in the North; so I know the average all around. The average man's a coward. In the North he lets anbody walk over him that wants to, and goes home and prays for a humble spirit to bear it. In the South one man, all by himself, has stopped a stage full of men in the daytime, and robbed the lot. Your newspapers call you a brave people so much that you think you are braver than any other people--whereas you're just as brave, no braver. Why don't your juries hang murderers? Because they're afraid the man's friends will shoot them in the back, in the dark--and it's just what they would do.
1. An explicit comparison is made between "the man's friends" and:
(A) "cast-out women"
(B) "your kind"
(C) "a stage full of men"
(D) "murderers"
I think it's A.
2. Sherburn's tone is:
(A) contemptuous
(B) bemused
(C) paternal
(D) bombastic
(E) hyperbolic
I am torn between A and D. It does say that he said "slow and scornful" and scornful means contemptuous but he does use a lot of exclamation marks throughout the speech which could be considered bombastic. I guess if I had to choose, I'd pick A.
B for the first one. Reread it with that in mind. A is correct on the second.
I agree with BobPursley.
To answer the first question, the explicit comparison is made between "the man's friends" and "a stage full of men." The speaker mentions that in the South, one man has the power to stop a stage full of men, implying that the man's friends are just as capable and intimidating.
As for the second question, Sherburn's tone is described as contemptuous. This is evident in the way he mocks and belittles the crowd's idea of lynching, calling them out for their lack of bravery and comparing them unfavorably to both the North and the South.
To arrive at these answers, you can analyze the given passage and look for clues in the text. In this case, paying attention to Sherburn's words, the context of the comparisons, and the overall tone of his speech will help you determine the correct answers.