The judges themselves said it was the worst performance they had ever seen.

Read the sentence.

Why does the author use the word "themselves" in this sentence?

to give emphasis to the meaning of the sentence

to change the way the sentence is read

to give humor to the meaning of the sentence

to change the meaning of the sentence

The correct answer is a

To give emphasis to the meaning of the sentence

Explanation:

Read it aloud, "The judges themselves said it was the worst performance they had ever seen." Another way to emphasis this would be to say "Even the judges said it was the worst performance they had even seen", or, "Even the judges themselves said it was the worst performance they had ever seen"

These types of questions tend to trick you, so take my answer with a grain of salt and trust your gut! What has the rest of your unit/education shared? Have they been teaching you emphasis? Have they been teaching you how to read humor within text? Are you focusing on "change" in text? Good luck!