Passage 1
Then a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on the community: mysterious maladies swept the flocks of chickens; the cattle and sheep sickened and died. Everywhere was a shadow of death. The farmers spoke of much illness among their families.

Passage 2
This righteous and lively indignation on the part of Californians after the long period of deathlike apathy, in which they have witnessed the destruction of other groves unmoved, seems strange until the rapid growth that right public opinion has made during the last few years is considered and the peculiar interest that attaches to the Calaveras giants.

Which word best describes the tone used in both excerpts?

frustrated
passionate
wishful
insincere

From reading these two passages, the word that best describes the tone is insincere.

Explanation:

This is because the other three answers don't match the tone at all. I hope I'm not wrong.

answer: while there are loads of great interviewing techniques and questions, i feel it’s important to balance time and effectiveness when determining whether a candidate and employer relationship will be strong long-term.

explanation:

the narrator is a first person, participant one, who describes in the simple past tense important and difficult events in his earlier life. he also provides temporal markers as the month (january) and the time (12: 30 pm). finally the account of his experience is very detailed, to the extent that a participant narrator would talk the same way about his experiences. a good example of such detail is the mention of the “bovril ration” which historically was a native american food adopted by european explorers in arctic and antarctic regions due to its high level of calories.