Question

Excerpt from Chapter XII in The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

We have come five hundred miles by rail through the heart of France. What a bewitching land it is! What a garden! Surely the leagues of bright green lawns are swept and brushed and watered every day and their grasses trimmed by the barber. Surely the hedges are shaped and measured and their symmetry preserved by the most architectural of gardeners. Surely the long straight rows of stately poplars that divide the beautiful landscape like the squares of a checker-board are set with line and plummet, and their uniform height determined with a spirit level. Surely the straight, smooth, pure white turnpikes are jack-planed and sandpapered every day. How else are these marvels of symmetry, cleanliness, and order attained? It is wonderful. There are no unsightly stone walls and never a fence of any kind. There is no dirt, no decay, no rubbish anywhere—nothing that even hints at untidiness—nothing that ever suggests neglect. All is orderly and beautiful—every thing is charming to the eye.

1.) What does the symbol of the garden represent?

an idyllic place of beauty and order

a popular place filled with foreign tourists

an open space without fences or walls

an untamed space with little development

2.) Based on the imagery in this passage, what is the author’s viewpoint regarding the people of France?

They aspire to perfection.

Architecture is a source of national pride for them.

Gardening is a beloved hobby of theirs.

They lack organizational skills.

3.) What is the author's purpose for writing this passage?

to persuade French people to visit America

to describe the harshness of the American landscape

to educate readers about the culture and geography of France

to compare train travel in France to stagecoach travel in America

4.)

Answer 1

The answers are:

1)an idyllic place of beauty and order

It describes the places as beautiful and symmetrical.

2)Architecture is a source of national pride for them.

All the hardwork they put into gardening and constructing beautiful places and mantaining them like that, states that architecture is a source of national pride.

3)to educate readers about the culture and geography of France