"however, i have an idea at last. i know a small boy who owns some lead soldiers. i propose to borrow one of these—a corporal or perhaps a sergeant—and boil him down, and then fill up the hole in the shilling with lead. shillings, you know, are not solid silver; oh no, they have alloy in them. this one will have a little more than usual perhaps. one cannot tie oneself down to an ounce or two."

"however, i had to give him one without a hole before he would let me out of his shop."

in this sentence, taken from the start of the seventh paragraph, what does the transition word "however" mean?

a) "of course"

b) "through it all"

c) "on the other hand"

d) "but in spite of my best efforts"

the answer is somber

the present continuous is a verb tense which is mainly used to indicates that an action is in progress at the moment of speaking.  

it is formed using: person + verb to be (am/is/are) +verb + - ing form  

example: i am studying at this moment .

in addition, the present continuous is also used in order to express things that will or will not happen in the near future.

example: i am having dinner with some friends tonight.

the speaker sometimes   uses it   to express that an action is repeated and it causes irritation on the part of the speaker

example: my sister is constantly complaining about everything.

the answer is   c the cold war

wallop

to hot or strike with a hand blow

explanation: