I opened the bag and packed the boots in; and then, just as I was going to close it, a horrible idea occurred to me. Had I packed my toothbrush? I don't know how it is, but I never do know whether I've packed my toothbrush.
My toothbrush is a thing that haunts me when I'm travelling, and makes my life a misery. I dream that I haven't packed it, and wake up in a cold perspiration, and get out of bed and hunt for it. And, in the morning, I pack it before I have used it, and it is always -the last, thing I turn out of the bag; and then I repack and forget it, and have to rush upstairs for it at the last moment and carry it to the railway station, wrapped up in my pocket-handkerchief.
When he was going to close the bag, the idea that occurred to him was
The passage explicitly states, "a horrible idea occurred to me." The adjective "horrible" directly conveys a sense of distress or extreme unpleasantness experienced by the narrator regarding the potential oversight of packing the toothbrush. Therefore, "unpleasant" accurately reflects the narrator's immediate emotional state.
Option (B) "sad": While the situation causes distress, "sad" implies sorrow or grief, which does not align with the narrator's expressed feeling of anxiety or panic over forgetting an item. The emotion is more akin to vexation or apprehension rather than sadness.
Option (C) "fantastic": This option is contrary to the tone established by the narrator. "Fantastic" suggests something excellent or wonderful, which is the opposite of the "horrible idea" described in the text.
Option (D) "amusing": Although the situation might be perceived as humorous by a reader due to its exaggerated nature, the narrator's own experience is clearly not one of amusement. The text uses words such as "horrible," "haunts," and "makes my life a misery" to describe the impact of this recurring issue, indicating a deeply bothersome and distressing feeling for the narrator, not an amusing one.