Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.

In the excerpt above, what can the reader infer about the Young’s apartment?

There are no words to describe the impressiveness of their $8 flat.
The apartment is inexpensive and run-down.
The apartment is filthy and unsanitary.
The price of the rent is mentioned to illustrate the lavish lifestyle of the Young family.

Answer 1

The correct answer is that the apartment is inexpensive and run down.

Step-by-step explanation:

The flat was cheap and it wasn't even nice enough to warrant "Beggar Description" Which mean't it wasn't good enough to get a description from him.

Answer 2

Answer: The right answer is the B) The apartment is inexpensive and run-down.

Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can also be added that if the apartment "did not exactly beggar description" it could still be somehow describable, but the fact that the place had "that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad"—a police force that was in charge of arresting homeless people—does suggest that it was run-down. The weekly price for a furnished flat also suggests that it was not very expensive–even when "The Gift of the Magi," from which this excerpt has been taken, was written.