Question

Read the paragraph from Utopia. The building or the repairing of houses among us employ many hands, because often a thriftless heir suffers a house that his father built to fall into decay, so that his successor must, at a great cost, repair that which he might have kept up with a small charge; it frequently happens that the same house which one person built at a vast expense is neglected by another, who thinks he has a more delicate sense of the beauties of architecture, and he, suffering it to fall to ruin, builds another at no less charge. Which words from the text most effectively help indicate the meaning of the word thriftless as it is used in this passage?

Answer 1

The terms 'suffers a house to fall into decay,' 'repair that which he might have kept up with a small charge,' and 'neglected by another' in the passage help define 'thriftless' as not being careful with resources, leading to waste and decay.

Step-by-step explanation:

The words from the text that most effectively indicate the meaning of the word thriftless as used in this passage are 'suffers a house that his father built to fall into decay,' 'repair that which he might have kept up with a small charge,' and 'neglected by another.' These phrases suggest that the heir does not use resources wisely or does not manage their property carefully, which highlights the meaning of 'thriftless' as lacking thrift or being wasteful and not maintaining what has been invested in. A thriftless heir, therefore, is one who does not take care of their financial or material resources effectively, leading to unnecessary expense and the ruin of property that could have been preserved with prudent management.