I would say C) "'Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs! …'" (Paragraph 14) is the best option.
It is not Idiom, or hyperbole, I'm thinking it is personification.
Answer: D) by demonstrating through example how one state can unfairly dominate another state's votes in the Electoral College.
Explanation:
The author supports his argument's validity by demonstrating through example how one state can unfairly dominate another state's votes in the Electoral College. Specifically, the author shows how one person in California can overrule the votes of hundreds (even thousands) of people in several other states.
