Read the following excerpt from John Muir's article "The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West." Then answer the questi
on that follows.
Only thirty years ago, the great Central Valley of California, five hundred miles long and fifty miles wide, was one bed of golden and purple flowers. Now it is ploughed and pastured out of existence, gone forever--scarce a memory of it left in fence corners and along the bluffs of the streams. The gardens of the Sierra, also, and the noble forests in both the reserved and unreserved portions are sadly hacked and trampled, notwithstanding, the ruggedness of the topography--all excepting those of the parks guarded by a few soldiers. In the noblest forests of the world, the ground, once divinely beautiful, is desolate and repulsive, like a face ravaged by disease. This is true also of many other Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountain valleys and forests. The same fate, sooner or later, is awaiting them all, unless awakening public opinion comes forward to stop it.
How does Muir try to persuade his audience in this excerpt?
He encourages readers to get as angry as he is about the loss of natural areas.
He appeals to readers' sense of guilt about building cities within wilderness areas.
He encourages readers to stop trampling the land so that it remains beautiful.
He appeals to readers' feelings of nostalgia for natural beauty that might be lost.
