Ihad talked with him perhaps six times in the past month and found, to my disappointment, that he had little to say. so my first impression, that he was a person of some undefined consequence, had gradually faded and he had become simply the proprietor of an elaborate road-house next door. which theme does this excerpt best convey? a. high expectations are necessary for success. b. people will go to great lengths to gain the approval of those they admire. c. most people resist changing their feelings about a person after their first impression. d. the better one knows a person, the more one discovers his or her faults.

D. The better one knows a person, the more one discovers his or her faults.

Explanation: in the given excerpt we can see the description of how the speaker became disappointed of his/her neighbour after talking to him a couple of times. The narrator had the first impression that the man was interesting but that impression faded over time, so the theme that this excerpt best conveys is that the better one knows a person, the more one discovers his or her faults.

the right ones are in bold.

daintly refers to the fact she was reaching for what she ate, not necessarily what she is like.

greatest charm as in she possessed (=had) the greatest charm.

pleasant (her demeanor)

speaking (of her sensibility)

dead refers to the hypothetical mouse.

bleeding refers to the hypothetical mouse.

i think the answer is invented words, rhyming knack, alliteration, and, metaphor.