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Verbal·Information and Ideas·Central Ideas and Details

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The following text is from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1841 essay “The Method of Nature.”

The rapid wealth which hundreds of the community acquire in trade, or by the incessant expansions of our population and arts, enchants the eyes of all the rest; the luck of one is the hope of thousands, and the bribe acts like the neighborhood of a gold mine to impoverish the farm, the school, the church, the house, and the very body and feature of man.

Which choice best states the main idea of the text?

A

Those who wish to accumulate wealth can do so more quickly by engaging in trade than in other activities such as teaching and farming.

B

Participating in a variety of activities is important for one’s physical health.

C

When a few people in a society become rich, the rest of the society will benefit in turn, given enough time.

D

Observing the success of a few people can lead many to abandon important parts of their lives in the pursuit of similar success.