interpretations are given. choose the interpretation that is most appropriate My mother wanted to know what…

Analyze the question: The sentence uses the idiom "what was eating him." You are asked to choose the interpretation that best fits the idiom, not its literal words.

Explain the concept: The idiom "What's eating you?" or "What is eating him?" means "What is bothering, worrying or troubling him?" It has nothing to do with food or physical eating. It describes someone who looks upset, anxious or irritated, and others want to know the reason.

Solve step by step:

• A. what has made him become lean: This takes "eating" literally and links it to losing weight. The idiom is not about weight, so it is wrong.
• B. what he was spending his money: This is ungrammatical and unrelated to the idiom, so it is wrong.
• C. why he was upset: This matches the idiom exactly. His mother noticed he was troubled and wanted to know the cause, so it is correct.
• D. why he ignored him: This has nothing to do with being bothered or worried. The pronouns are also inconsistent ("he ignored him"), so it is wrong.

Answer: The idiom means "what was bothering him," so the interpretation is that she wanted to find out why he was upset.

Tip: In idiom questions, never trust the literal meaning of the words. Ask yourself, "In real conversation, when would someone say this?" For "What's eating you?", you would say it to someone who looks troubled. Other similar idioms are "What's bugging you?" and "What's on your mind?"