read the excerpt from a christmas carol by charles dickens and answer the question.

on christmas eve, the ghost of christmas present brings scrooge to his underpaid clerk's house on christmas day.

[1] "god bless us every one! " said tiny tim, the last of all.

[2] he sat very close to his father's side upon his little stool. bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him.

[3] "spirit," said scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before, "tell me if tiny tim will live."

[4] "i see a vacant seat," replied the ghost, "in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, the child will die."

[5] "no, no," said scrooge. "oh, no, kind spirit! say he will be spared."

[6] "if these shadows remain unaltered by the future, none other of my race," returned the ghost, "will find him here. what then? if he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."

[7] scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

how does the author use structure to create tension in the excerpt?

by flashing back to an earlier time in the main character's life
by flashing forward to show what happens in the future
by giving background information about the characters and setting
by showing the turning point in the conflict and how it's resolved