Question

What does line 50 help the reader understand? Select TWO correct answers.
The speaker’s disbelief in the low value of each tree.
The buyer’s detailed calculation of the price.
The speaker’s confidence in his bargaining skills.
The buyer’s need for clarification on the cost.
The speaker’s frustration with the buyer’s offer.


“A thousand Christmas trees!—at what apiece?”
He felt some need of softening that to me:
“A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars.”
Then I was certain I had never meant
To let him have them. Never show surprise!
But thirty dollars seemed so small beside
The extent of pasture I should strip, three cents
(For that was all they figured out apiece),
Three cents so small beside the dollar friends
I should be writing to within the hour
Would pay in cities for good trees like those,
Regular vestry-trees whole Sunday Schools
Could hang enough on to pick off enough.
A thousand Christmas trees I didn’t know I had!
Worth three cents more to give away than sell,
As may be shown by a simple calculation.
Too bad I couldn’t lay one in a letter.
I can’t help wishing I could send you one,
In wishing you herewith a Merry Christmas.

Answer 1

From line 50, the reader can understand the following:

1. **The speaker’s disbelief in the low value of each tree.** The speaker is taken aback by the low price of thirty dollars for a thousand trees, which translates to just three cents apiece, highlighting his disbelief in how little value the buyer places on something he views as valuable.

2. **The speaker’s frustration with the buyer’s offer.** The speaker’s reflection on how much more people in cities would pay for good trees suggests a frustration with the buyer's offer, as it does not align with what he believes the trees are worth. The speaker seems to feel that the buyer's calculation undervalues the trees, which adds to his frustration.