The answer is D
Corrupted has a negative connotation, like distracted. “The present”=latest new. You is figurative; the author does not literally mean a toy, but a new thing.
the popular cultural trends of the time when the work was written
When bricking a building: masons must fit the bricks together; sometimes they slice bricks in half for a better fit.
TRUE, even though you really dont have to go to a Nobel Lecture just to talk about it, it is only if your idea is great
