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Read these lines: "At this festive season of the year, said the gentleman, it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. Are there no prisons? asked Scrooge. And the Union workhouses? Are they still in operation?" What do the two questions reveal?
AThat he is checking his facts before giving
BThat he doubts the two men are honest at all
CThat he wants the poor shut away, not helped
DThat he has visited both places quite recently
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. That he wants the poor shut away, not helped
1. The gentleman asks for money to relieve suffering at Christmas.
2. The answer is not a sum, nor a refusal, but two questions about prisons and workhouses.
3. Both of those places lock the poor away rather than relieve them where they live.
4. Offering them as the answer to a plea for relief treats confinement as help enough.
5. So the questions reveal a wish to have the poor shut away, option C.
6. Checking facts before giving would be followed by giving, and no gift ever comes.
7. Nothing casts doubt on the two callers, who are received as genuine throughout.
8. A recent visit would show in some detail of the places, and he asks only whether they are still running.
_Source: Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843), Stave I Marley's Ghost_
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