Question

Critical Reading Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question. What is Mr. Gradgrind’s opinion of horse riders?
A. He does not approve of them.

B. He is fascinated with them.

C. He believes they have a dangerous job.

D. He believes they have an exciting job

Answer 1

Answer: A. He does not approve of them.

Thomas Gradgrind is a character in the novel Hard Times by Charles Dickens. He is a mechanized, monotonous person. He loves hard, dry facts and is of an unusual rigidity. His philosophy of calculating rationality does not approve of horse riders. He is a product of the Industrial Revolution, as he believes everything can be mechanized and rationalized, and that people can be trained in a way that they come to resemble machines.

Answer 2

The correct answer is A. He does not approve of them.

That is because Mr. Gradgrind believed that it was not a respectable job and that people who value themselves should not be doing it.