Jason wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. Like he could ever be an astronaut! The child was seven, and he could barely tie his shoelaces. All of Jason’s brothers were very advanced intellectually and physically. But Jason kept falling short. Perhaps that’s the reason why he had such lofty ambitions.

The sentence in the excerpt that shows a mocking tone is:

Like he could ever be an astronaut!

Explanation:

To mock means to make fun of something or someone in a derisive, cruel manner. Notice how the sentence "Like he could ever be an astronaut!" mocks the sentence that came before it. It is, in a cruel, sarcastic way, refuting the possibility of Jason becoming an astronaut like he used to dream of. We can easily hear the tone in which the sentence would be spoken in our minds - a laughing, ironic tone.

two factors or characteristics of a chapter that might make it difficult to read would be words i don't understand, or if i don't fully understand what's going on in the chapter. strategies i can use to get through the difficult material would be a dictionary, and re-reading previous chapters to get a better grasp of what the author is trying to say.