Question

Read this sentence from Silent Spring.

Along the roads, laurel, viburnum and alder, great ferns and wildflowers delighted the traveler's eye through much of the year.

Which best states a comparison of the tones used in these excerpts?

Both excerpts are negative, but the second excerpt has a more negative tone.
Both excerpts are positive, but the first excerpt has a more serious tone.
Both excerpts are despairing, but the first excerpt has a gloomier tone.
Both excerpts are uplifting, but the second excerpt is more conversational in tone.

Answer 1

Both excerpts are uplifting, but the second excerpt is more conversational in tone.

Reason: The Silent Spring line is lyrical and pleasantly descriptive ("delighted the traveler's eye"), so it's uplifting rather than negative or despairing; the comparison implies the other excerpt shares a positive tone but reads in a more informal, conversational way.