What can be inferred from this excerpt from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens?Occasionally, when there was some more than usually interesting inquest upon a parish child who had been overlooked in turning up a bedstead, or inadvertently scalded to death when there happened to be a washing—though the latter accident was very scarce, anything approaching to a washing being of rare occurrence in the farm—the jury would take it into their heads to ask troublesome questions, or the parishioners would rebelliously affix their signatures to a remonstrance. A. Workhouse authorities were extremely careless in their duties. B. Parishioners wrongly criticized parish officials. C. The legal system carefully monitored parish affairs. D. Parish children were extremely weak due to poor nourishment.
Question
What can be inferred from this excerpt from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens?Occasionally, when there was some more than usually interesting inquest upon a parish child who had been overlooked in turning up a bedstead, or inadvertently scalded to death when there happened to be a washing—though the latter accident was very scarce, anything approaching to a washing being of rare occurrence in the farm—the jury would take it into their heads to ask troublesome questions, or the parishioners would rebelliously affix their signatures to a remonstrance. A. Workhouse authorities were extremely careless in their duties. B. Parishioners wrongly criticized parish officials. C. The legal system carefully monitored parish affairs. D. Parish children were extremely weak due to poor nourishment.
Solution
The excerpt from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens suggests that the workhouse authorities were extremely careless in their duties. This can be inferred from the instances mentioned where a parish child was overlooked while turning up a bedstead or was inadvertently scalded to death during a washing. The fact that these incidents led to inquests and that the jury sometimes asked troublesome questions or the parishioners signed a remonstrance indicates dissatisfaction and criticism of the authorities. Therefore, the answer is A. Workhouse authorities were extremely careless in their duties.
Similar Questions
Which themes of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist does this excerpt from the novel touch on?The houses on either side were high and large, but very old, and tenanted by people of the poorest class: as their neglected appearance would have sufficiently denoted, without the concurrent testimony afforded by the squalid looks of the few men and women who, with folded arms and bodies half doubled, occasionally skulked along. . . . Some houses which had become insecure from age and decay, were prevented from falling into the street, by huge beams of wood reared against the walls, and firmly planted in the road; but even these crazy dens seemed to have been selected as the nightly haunts of some houseless wretches, for many of the rough boards which supplied the place of door and window, were wrenched from their positions, to afford an aperture wide enough for the passage of a human body. The kennel was stagnant and filthy. The very rats, which here and there lay putrefying in its rottenness, were hideous with famine. A. extreme poverty B. society's treatment of the poor C. good versus evil D. child labor
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’s 1837 novel Oliver Twist. [The Artful Dodger] was a snub-nosed, flat-browed, common-faced boy enough; and as dirty a juvenile as one would wish to see; but he had about him all the airs and manners of a man. He was short of his age: with rather bow-legs, and little, sharp, ugly eyes. His hat was stuck on the top of his head so lightly, that it threatened to fall off every moment—and would have done so, very often, if the wearer had not had a knack of every now and then giving his head a sudden twitch, which brought it back to its old place again. He wore a man’s coat, which reached nearly to his heels. He had turned the cuffs back, half-way up his arm, to get his hands out of the sleeves: apparently with the ultimate view of thrusting them into the pockets of his corduroy trousers; for there he kept them.Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?To evoke the reader's sympathy for the Artful DodgereliminateTo clarify the reason why the Artful Dodger wears a man’s coateliminateTo characterize the Artful Dodger through physical descriptioneliminateTo relate the Artful Dodger's history and what led him to his current circumstances
The following text is adapted from Charles Dickens’ 1861 novel Great Expectations. The speaker and Joe are in a cottage on a cold night. Joe made the fire and swept the hearth, and then we went to the door to listen for the chaise-cart. It was a dry cold night, and the wind blew keenly, and the frost was white and hard. A man would die to-night of lying out on the marshes, I thought. And then I looked at the stars, and considered how awful it would be for a man to turn his face up to them as he froze to death, and see no help or pity in all the glittering multitude.Which choice best describes the function of the underlined sentence in the text as a whole? It illustrates a character’s prediction of the future.eliminateIt reveals a character’s lack of empathy. eliminate It continues the previous sentence’s detailed description of the setting. eliminate It establishes a scenario a character is imagining.
1. How does Dickens use the setting to convey the mood right at the opening?
by Charles Dickens (adapted excerpt)The story takes place during the time of the French Revolution, the storming of the Bastille in Paris. During the riots, Doctor Manette's daughter, Lucy Darnay, learned that the prison had been attacked and the political prisoners held there, including her husband, were in danger.Here Doctor Manette had ascertained, through the registers on the table, that his son-in-law was among the detainees. He had pleaded hard to the Tribunal, in which some members were asleep and some awake, for his life and freedom. In the first frantic greetings lavished on himself as a noted sufferer under the overthrown system, it had been accorded to him to have Charles Darnay brought before the lawless Court, and examined. That, he seemed on the point of being at once released, when the tide in his favor met with some unexplained check (not intelligible to the Doctor), which led to a few words of secret conference. That, the man sitting as President had then informed Doctor Manette that the defendant must remain in custody, but should, for his sake, be held blameless in safe custody.3Select the correct answer.Which detail from the text supports the idea that the Tribunal in the story was very busy and working long days with many prisoners being examined? A. “Some members were asleep and some awake.” B. “through the registers on the table” C. “The tide in his favor met with some unexplained check.” D. “be held blameless in safe custody”
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