When they had laughed at Beth's story, they asked their mother for one, and after a moment's thought, she sald soberly, "As I sat cutting out blue flannel jackets today at the rooms, I felt very anxious about Father, and thought
how lonely and helpless we should be, if anything happened to him. It was not a wise thing to do, but I kept on
worrying till an old man came in with an order for some clothes.
Which of the following sentences uses a word with a similar meaning to soberly as used in the passage above?
A) My family abstains from eating chocolate during Lent.
B) Unbeknownst to the theater-goers, the film's star made an impromptu appearance at the premiere.
C) Nichole showed maturity and composure beyond her fourteen years at the awards reception
D) Lacking a sense of humor, our math teacher takes all of our jokes literally