Asked by j

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

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
"it is not doubted, that this invention may be capable of great improvement"

This is an understatement because it calmly and mildly praises the "invention" after describing a costly failure with "little or no crop," downplaying the disaster with ironic, restrained language.