Read the passage and answer the questions that follow on the basis of the…
2025
Read the passage and answer the questions that follow on the basis of the information provided in the passage.
The last half of my life has been lived in one of those painful epochs of human history during which the world is getting worse, and past victories which had seemed to be definitive have turned out to be only temporary. When I was young, Victorian optimism was taken for granted. It was thought that freedom and prosperity would speed gradually throughout the world by an orderly process, and it was hoped that cruelty, tyranny, and injustice would continually diminish. Hardly anyone was haunted by the fear of great wars. Hardly anyone thought of the nineteenth century as a brief interlude between past and future barbarism.
The victories of the past
- A.
Filled men with a sense of pessimism.
- B.
Proved to be temporary events.
- C.
verbosity in speech
- D.
Ended, cruelty, tyranny, and injustice.
Attempted by 22 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Answer: Proved to be temporary events.
Explanation: The passage explicitly says, “past victories which had seemed to be definitive have turned out to be only temporary.” This directly supports the choice that past victories proved to be temporary events.
Why this is correct: The quoted sentence states the same idea in different words, so the choice accurately reflects the passage’s meaning.
Why "Filled men with a sense of pessimism." is wrong: The author mentions a worsening world but uses this to argue that past victories were temporary, not that the victories themselves caused pessimism.
Why "verbosity in speech" is wrong: The passage does not discuss speech or verbosity; this option is irrelevant.
Why "Ended, cruelty, tyranny, and injustice." is wrong: The passage reports a hope that these evils would diminish, but it does not say they ended; the author implies they persisted.