Read this passage:
it was his own fault or, rather, his mistake. he should not
have built the fire under the spruce tree. he should have
built it in the open. but it had been easier to pull the twigs
from the brush and drop them directly on the fire. now the
tree under which he had done this carried a weight of snow
on its boughs. no wind had blown for weeks, and each
bough was fully freighted. each time he had pulled a twig
he had communicated a slight agitation to the tree an
imperceptible agitation, so far as he was concerned, but an
agitation sufficient to bring about the disaster. high up in
the tree one bough capsized its load of snow. this fell on
the boughs beneath, capsizing them. this process
continued, spreading out and involving the whole tree. it
grew like an avalanche, and it descended without warning
upon the man and the fire, and the fire was blotted out!
where it had burned was a mantle of fresh and disordered
snow.
what can you infer based on this passage from "to build a fire"?
a. the man must build a new fire.
b. the snow fell on the man and the fire.
c. the snow puts out the man's fire.
d. man has an instinct for survival.