The central claim of the underlined passage is that...

Question

While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings. And if the civilized man’s pursuits are no worthier than the savage’s, if he is employed the greater part of his life in obtaining gross necessaries and comforts merely, why should he have a better dwelling than the former?

Answer Choices:

A) Man’s civilized pursuits are no worthier than those of the savages.

B) Civilized men should not have better living conditions than noblemen and kings.

C) Men do not deserve better living conditions because they are lazy.

D) The character of people in our society hasn't been developing at the same rate as the dwellings where they live.

Answer 1

Answer D is correct.

In ACT-style Reading questions, it is just as crucial to eliminate bad answers as it is to choose the right answer.

A. Incorrect, this is just a restatement of a line in the text. It is not a central claim and does not answer the question.

B. Incorrect, this is an overly stretched interpretation of the excerpt. The paragraph only claims that civilized men are not of significantly better character than in days past, it does not say that nobles and kings deserved better living condition than men today.

C. Incorrect, this paragraph is not about being lazy. Also, "Men" does not specifically outline which group of men is being referred to.

D. Correct, this line summarizes the claim of the paragraph. The excerpt only means to say that technology and living quarters have evolved for men in the present time, but the character and quality of man has not improved.

Answer 2

The answer is D: The character of people in our society hasn't been developing at the same rate as the dwellings where they live.

1. The passage states that while civilization has improved our houses, it "has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them."
2. It also mentions that civilization has created palaces, but creating "noblemen and kings" (metaphorically referring to people of noble character) has not been as easy.

These points all support the idea that there's a disparity between the development of our physical living spaces and the development of human character or pursuits. This aligns most closely with answer choice D.

Answer 3

The correct answer choice is:

D) The character of people in our society hasn't been developing at the same rate as the dwellings where they live.

Explanation:

Just because the rich or fortunate may live in expensive dwellings, this does not equate to their character being full of good characteristics, such as honesty, hard-work, or being virtuous and the desire to do good deeds. The author is showing that: humans still have basic necessities, regardless of wealth or class standing, highlighting the contrast between the stagnant evolution of necessity and the (in the author's view), the overly quick, or possibly entirely uncalled for, evolution of increased desire or lust for unnecessarily grandiose material things.