Read this excerpt from Paragraph 4 of the passage.

At lunch, Alma sat across from me, even though by then several other regular volunteers had arrived and offered to take her out for real food rather than subjecting her to the cafeteria fare. I can’t imagine how far gone I must have seemed to her, but I’ll never forget what she said as I prodded the chocolate mass parading as cake on my tray.

What does the phrase “ the chocolate mass parading as cake” mean in this excerpt?

A) a food item called cake that doesn’t appear appetizing

B) a piece of cake that is slipping off the cafeteria tray

C) a large portion of cake

D) a piece of cake that is decorated festively

Phrases are words that can mean one thing even though they may refer to something else. This is an indirect way of trying to make things or describe things in a sarcastic way.

In the given passage, the speaker refers to a "chocolate mass" that is on her lunch tray.

The word "parading" is used to refer to the cake, signifying that despite it being a cake, it seemed more like it is pretending to be a cake.

This assumption is further supported by the use of the word "prodded", which gives a negative feel or something like reluctance to consume the cake.

So, we can safely assume that what the speaker means by the phrase "the chocolate mass parading as cake" is to refer to the cake as not appetizing. Thus, the correct answer is option A.

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