Question

Hundreds of thousands of white South Africans are concerned only with holding on to white privilege. They believe that they would rather die holding on to it than give up the smallest part; and I believe they would. (p. 111)
The tone of this passage is _____.

sarcastic
moralistic
arrogant
regretful

Answer 1

Answer:

I think that the tone of this passage is regretful. The correct option in the last one.

Explanation:

In these lines, the author tells how he/she perceives the reality of the white South Africans, he/she says that they are afraid of losing privileges, and that they "would rather die” than give up those privileges. These words are filled with sorrow, with sadness and without hope. The author tells this as a hard truth, but truth at last. The author is not violent in this description, he/she is just pointing out the reality and that is why I chose regretful as the correct tone for describing the excerpt. The author is not directly judging the white South Africans acts, he/she is just giving information with a connotation of sorrow and regret.

Answer 2

The answer is D: regretful

 The writer describes one realistic situation in South Africa. He tells about the attitude of thousands of white South Africans concerning some privilages they have, their unwillingness to forsake them for the good of others, nor even the smallest part. The writer finishes regretting that the sad and selfish condition of these people will follow them until the day they die.