HELP!! The Chief Elder announced that Jonas had been selected, not assigned, as the next Receiver of Memory. Such a selection was very, very rare. When she spoke of the current Receiver, she glanced at one of the Elders who . . . seemed oddly separate. . . a man Jonas had never noticed before, a bearded man with pale eyes.

What clue tells the reader that Jonas, Gabriel, and the strange Elder are connected?

the word selected

The man doesn’t seem to be like the other Elders.

Jonas’s selection, like Gabriel’s reprieve, is rare.

the man’s pale eyes

As it is opined in the paragraph at first, that Jonas is announced to have been selected, not assigned as the next Receiver of memory. This reveals a certain amount of acquaintance could be possible between the three characters.

The rest of the options serve to build the mood of passage while the word 'selected' is doubled down on, right after it is mentioned making it look important to the eyes of the reader too.