For this question, the word in capital letter has the emphatic stress. Choose the option to which the given…

Analyze the question

In emphatic stress questions, the capitalised word is the one the speaker wants to stress. It is the new or contrasting piece of information, and the question that the sentence answers must be about that word.

The sentence is: "A HAWKER showed him the way to the park."

The stress falls on HAWKER. So the sentence answers a question that is asking who showed him the way, with the answer being "a hawker" and not some other person, such as a trader.

Explain the concept

Emphatic stress shows contrast. If "HAWKER" is stressed, the sentence corrects or answers a question that named a different person. Everything else in the sentence (showed him the way to the park) stays the same in the question. Only the doer changes.

Check the options

• A. "...the way to the street?" This changes the place (park → street), so the stress would be on PARK. ✗
• B. "Did a trader show him the way to the park?" This changes only the doer (trader instead of hawker), with everything else the same. The reply "A HAWKER showed him the way to the park" stresses the corrected word. ✓
• C. "...show her...?" This changes the person helped (him → her), so the stress would be on HIM. ✗
• D. "Did the hawker show him the way to the park?" This is identical to the statement apart from "the/a", so there is no contrast and nothing to emphasise. ✗

Answer: Option B fits, because the stressed word HAWKER contrasts with "trader" and everything else in the question stays unchanged.

Tip: Find the capitalised word, then look for the option that differs from the sentence in only that one element. The option that changes something else, or changes nothing, is wrong.