Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

Until it happened I did not realize that Jem was offended by my contradicting him on Hot Steams, and that he was patiently awaiting an opportunity to reward me. He did, by pushing the tire down the sidewalk with all the force in his body.

In the excerpt above, what is the best definition for the word reward? Select all that apply.

congratulate

frighten

award

punish

Punish.

Explanation:

The given passage in the question is from Harper Lee's "To Kill A Mockingbird" Chapter 4 where Scout, Jem and their friend Dill were playing. The exact passage is from when Scout, our narrator, had just offended her brother and didn't realize it. So, the next chance that Jem got to pay back his younger sister for 'offending him' when she "contradicted him on Hot Steams", he did so.

They were playing with an old tire when Jem pushed it so hard that Scout couldn't see properly, "Ground, sky and houses melted into a mad palette". She got rolled up all the way, crashing at the Radleys' steps.

In this passage, Scout used the word "reward" in an ironic and sarcastic way, implying that due to her offence of disagreeing with her brother before, he had now taken a chance to punish her for that.

congratulate and award