Question

The sugar that piled up on the docks near the plantations was something new in the world: pure sweetness, pure pleasure, so cheap that common people could afford it. Scientists have shown that people all over the world must learn to like salty tastes, sour tastes, mixed tastes. But from the moment we are born, we crave sweetness. Cane sugar was the first product in human history that perfectly satisfied that desire. And the bitter lives of the enslaved Africans produced so much sugar that pure sweetness began to spread around the world. How do the authors support their claim and purpose with their choice of words?

Answer 1

c.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Since the main subject in the text is "Sugar" - a theme that would commonly be associated with taste -, the authors deemed it a clever idea to use dials of flavor (sweet, sour, bitter, salty...) as adjectives to describe the individuals (characters) involved.

For example:

• We, the human race, are stated to "crave sweetness" since birth.
• "... the bitter lives of the enslaved Africans..." are responsible for the spreading of "pure sweetness... around the world".