Read the excerpt below from the short story “Rules of the Game” by Amy Tan and answer the question that follows. On a cold spring afternoon, while walking home from school, I detoured through the playground at the end of our alley. I saw a group of old men, two seated across a folding table playing a game of chess, others smoking pipes, eating peanuts, and watching. I ran home and grabbed Vincent’s chess set, which was bound in a cardboard box with rubber bands. I also carefully selected two prized rolls of Life Savers. I came back to the park and approached a man who was observing the game. “Want to play?” I asked him. His face widened with surprise and he grinned as he looked at the box under my arm. “Little sister, been a long time since I play with dolls,” he said, smiling benevolently. I quickly put the box down next to him on the bench and displayed my retort. What motivates the narrator to “display [her] retort” rather than to respond verbally to the man?
a - the goal not to speak a single negative word in thirty days
b - the fear of what the narrator’s mother will do
c - the knowledge that it is dangerous to speak to strangers
d - the desire to master the art of “invisible strength”