Question

Read the passage from "By the Waters of Babylon.” I looked out of another window—the great vines of their bridges were mended and god-roads went east and west. Restless, restless, were the gods and always in motion! They burrowed tunnels under rivers—they flew in the air. With unbelievable tools they did giant works—no part of the earth was safe from them, for, if they wished for a thing, they summoned it from the other side of the world. And always, as they labored and rested, as they feasted and made love, there was a drum in their ears—the pulse of the giant city, beating and beating like a man's heart. Which text evidence from the passage best supports the theme that technology can come with an environmental cost? “I looked out of another window—the great vines of their bridges were mended and god-roads went east and west.” “They burrowed tunnels under rivers—they flew in the air.” “No part of the earth was safe from them, for, if they wished for a thing, they summoned it from the other side of the world.” “There was a drum in their ears—the pulse of the giant city, beating and beating like a man's heart.”

Answer 1

The best option seems indeed to be "No part of the earth was safe from them, for, if they wished for a thing, they summoned it from the other side of the world."

Step-by-step explanation:

"By the Waters of Babylon" is a short story by author Stephen Vincent Benét published in 1937. The main character, John, lives in a post-apocalyptic world where society has returned to a primitive state. Cities are seen as inhabited by spirits, and metal is believed to be cursed. John is a priest and, for that reason, can go places other people are forbidden to go. Upon traveling to a Dead Place that used to be New York, John has a vision, a dream. It is revealed to him that the beings they believed to have been gods were actually human beings like himself. That the Dead Places, now so somber and "haunted", were once living cities full of people.

What brought the demise of such society was technology. It was used to harm the environment, to develop weapons of mass destruction, to annihilate the world that once existed. When the narrator says, “No part of the earth was safe from them, for, if they wished for a thing, they summoned it from the other side of the world,” he shows how man's greed left no stone unturned. As long as man existed, as long as he fought for power, money, possessions, as long as he used technology for his own good, the world didn't stand a chance.

Answer 2

Answer: the correct answer is "No part of the earth was safe from them, for, if they wished for a thing, they summoned it from the other side of the world.”

Explanation: No part of the earth was safe meaning they are exploiting natural resources.