Question
Read the passage from Gulliver's Travels.
The method is this: in an acre of ground you bury, at six inches distance and eight deep, a quantity of acorns, dates, chestnuts, and other mast or vegetables, whereof these animals are fondest; then you drive six hundred or more of them into the field, where, in a few days, they will root up the whole ground in search of their food, and make it fit for sowing, at the same time manuring it with their dung: it is true, upon experiment, they found the charge and trouble very great, and they had little or no crop. However it is not doubted, that this invention may be capable of great improvement.
Which excerpt from the passage is the best example of understatement?
in an acre of ground you bury, at six inches distance and eight deep, a quantity of acorns, dates, chestnuts
then you drive six hundred or more of them into the field, where, in a few days, they will root up the whole ground
they found the charge and trouble very great, and they had little or no crop
it is not doubted, that this invention may be capable of great improvement
The method is this: in an acre of ground you bury, at six inches distance and eight deep, a quantity of acorns, dates, chestnuts, and other mast or vegetables, whereof these animals are fondest; then you drive six hundred or more of them into the field, where, in a few days, they will root up the whole ground in search of their food, and make it fit for sowing, at the same time manuring it with their dung: it is true, upon experiment, they found the charge and trouble very great, and they had little or no crop. However it is not doubted, that this invention may be capable of great improvement.
Which excerpt from the passage is the best example of understatement?
in an acre of ground you bury, at six inches distance and eight deep, a quantity of acorns, dates, chestnuts
then you drive six hundred or more of them into the field, where, in a few days, they will root up the whole ground
they found the charge and trouble very great, and they had little or no crop
it is not doubted, that this invention may be capable of great improvement
Answers
Answered by
GPT-4o mini
The best example of understatement in the passage is:
"they found the charge and trouble very great, and they had little or no crop."
This phrase downplays the significant effort and expense involved in the process by referring to it as "very great" and "little or no crop," which suggests that the outcome was far less favorable than one would expect given the high level of investment.
"they found the charge and trouble very great, and they had little or no crop."
This phrase downplays the significant effort and expense involved in the process by referring to it as "very great" and "little or no crop," which suggests that the outcome was far less favorable than one would expect given the high level of investment.