How is the underlined gerund used in the sentence?

his only action toward his goal was some wishing.

a.
predicate nominative

b.
direct object

c.
subject

d.
object of a preposition

In the story "a very old man with enormous wings", why does the young girl get changed into a spider?

On november 17, 1968, football fans across the united states sat glued to their televisions. a close game between two top teams—the new york jets and the oakland raiders—was being broadcast. when the jets pulled ahead with only fifty seconds remaining, viewers went wild. but then, just as the raiders were bringing the ball across midfield, the game disappeared from the screen! in its place, a previously scheduled children's movie, heidi, started playing. callers flooded the tv network's phone lines, but it was too late. the raiders scored two touchdowns in the very final moments—touchdowns that were unseen by all but west coast viewers. as a result of the interrupted event, dubbed "the heidi game," television networks began delaying their regularly scheduled programs until football games had ended.

Select the correct answer from each drop-down menu. read the following excerpt from the novel "oliver twist" by charles dickens. although oliver had been brought up by philosophers, he was not theoretically acquainted with the beautiful axiom that self-preservation is the first law of nature. if he had been, perhaps he would have been prepared for this. not being prepared, however, it alarmed him the more; so away he went