Alice was not scared. Not at all. Maybe a little bit. But she was determined to confront the ghost in her house. Alice lived in a farmhouse built in 1921. All of the floors and doors were original; the doors even had skeleton key locks. But by far the most terrifying part of the house was the basement. She kept that door locked and ignored the thumps, crashes, and cries that came from below the house. What made Alice determined to confront the ghost today was the especially loud crashes the previous night. She'd gotten no sleep, convinced the ghost was going to break through the door and do something horrible. What, she wasn't sure, but the ghost would do something. Alice hadn't seen the ghost, but what else could be making loud noises in an old house? The one time she had been down in the basement was after buying the house unseen. Once she saw the shelves with old glass jars, she was a little put off. But what made her keep the door shut and locked was the abrupt end of the concrete floor halfway across the room. Because nothing good ever happened in a basement with a dirt floor. Alice had seen enough horror movies to know that Alice stared at the basement door, trying to gather enough confidence to open it and march down the stairs like she owned the place. Because she did-or she would, once she finished paying her mortgage in 30 years Alice took a deep breath and yanked the door open. She marched down the stairs, only to stop abruptly at the bottom. Because she was face to face with not a ghost at all. It was a calico cat, one who looked utterly unimpressed by her brave journey into the basement Which of the following phrases from the passage added humor to an otherwise fearful mood?

A. Only two decades reached 50% or more record high temperatures.

B. More decades reached greater than 50% of daily high temperature records than reached greater than 50% of low temperature records.

C. More decades reached greater than -50% of low daily temperature records than reached greater than 50% of daily high temperature records.

D. Only one decade reached less than 25% record low temperature records.

A. The doors have skeleton key locks.

B. The doors and floors are original to the home.

C. There are glass jars on the shelves in the basement

D. The basement has a dirt floor.

A. Their small size means mourning geckos are easy to keep as pets.

B. Genetic variation and mutations may give mourning geckos a better chance for survival.

C. Mourning geckos are an endangered species.

D. Because their offspring are clones, all mourning geckos are identical