An eighty-year-old man in Miami called his son in New York the day before Thanksgiving and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother and I are divorcing. We're sick of each other and both of us want a change for the better." He then hung up. Frantic, the son called his sister in Los Angeles. "I won't let this happen!" his sister said, "Leave this to me. I'll take care of it." She called her dad immediately and screamed at him. "You aren't getting divorced! Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow." The old man hung up the phone and, turning to his wife, said, "OK. They'll be here for Thanksgiving. Now, what will we tell them for Christmas?"
Which of the following sentences from the text supports the inference that the elderly man didn't really want to get divorced?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

When the father says "Now, what will be tell them for Christmas?" we can infer that he doesn't want to get divorced. He only said that to trick his children into showing up for the holidays.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother and I are divorcing," is incorrect. When the elderly man said, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but your mother and I are divorcing," we can't guess yet that he is lying. At this point, it just appears to be a statement of fact. 
"We're sick of each other and both of us want a change for the better," is incorrect. When the elderly man said, "We're sick of each other and both of us want a change for the better," we can't guess yet that he is lying. At this point, it just appears to be a statement of fact.
"You aren't getting divorced!" is incorrect. This statement was made by the daughter, not the father. We can't make any inferences about his not wanting to get divorced from this.

An Eighty-Year-Old Man in Miami Called His Son in New