This question is missing the excerpt and the answer choices. I was able to find them online. They are the following:
Excerpt from "Silent Spring":
There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surroundings. The town lay in the midst of a checkerboard of prosperous farms, with fields of grain and hillsides of orchards where, in spring, white clouds of bloom drifted above the green fields. In autumn, oak and maple and birch set up a blaze of color that flamed and flickered across a backdrop of pines. The foxes barked in the hills and deer silently crossed the fields, half hidden in the mists of fall mornings.
As described in the selection from "Silent Spring," what is the town like before everything begins to change? Choose two options
A. prosperous
B. unhappy
C. beautiful
D. crowded
E. troubled
Answer:
The town is:
A. prosperous
C. beautiful
Explanation:
"Silent Spring" is a book first published in 1962 which discusses the harmful effects of pesticides over nature. The book raised important questions concerning the future of our planet. The book's author was Rachel Carson (1907-1964), a marine biologist from Pennsylvania.
<u>In the excerpt we are analyzing here, the word "prosperous" appears explicitly when the author describes the farms around the city. However, the adjective "beautiful" is not explicitly mentioned. Nonetheless, we can easily choose it because of the detailed description Carson gives. The town and its surroundings are nothing short of a paradise. Green fields, white clouds, peaceful animals, colorful trees - a true description of a scenery almost everyone would consider beautiful. Therefore, the best options are letters A and C, prosperous and beautiful, respectively.</u>
