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Question

Difficulty: MediumWriter's Purpose, Tone, Mood, and Attitude

Read the following passage carefully:

"The recent surge in municipal spending on ornamental fountains, while civic leaders applaud it as an investment in public aesthetics, is an unmitigated extravagance. In a city where municipal schools lack basic laboratory equipment and public healthcare clinics operate with chronic shortages of essential medication, diverting millions of naira toward dancing water jets reveals a profound misplacement of priorities. Aesthetics undoubtedly enrich urban life, but ornamental splendor cannot substitute for fundamental public welfare. Until essential civic infrastructure is adequately funded, these installations remain monuments to administrative vanity."

Which of the following best describes the writer's attitude toward the spending on ornamental fountains?

  1. Strongly critical and indignantAnswer
  2. B
    Sympathetic toward the civic leaders
  3. C
    Purely neutral and objective
  4. D
    Melancholic and sorrowful

Answer

The writer's attitude is strongly critical and indignant.
The correct answer is supported by the writer's explicit condemnation of the spending using intense, disapproving phrasing such as 'unmitigated extravagance', 'profound misplacement of priorities', and 'monuments to administrative vanity'. These expressions show clear indignation toward municipal waste.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the writer's choice of words (diction) across the passage.
Identified strongly negative evaluative terms including 'unmitigated extravagance', 'profound misplacement of priorities', and 'monuments to administrative vanity'.
Word choice directly reveals the author's tone and attitude toward the subject matter.
2
Distinguish the author's voice from background context and contrasting views.
The reference to civic leaders applauding the project is framed as a counterpoint that the author aggressively refutes.
Recognizing structural contrasts helps prevent mistaking reported views for the author's own position.
3
Match the identified tone to the correct descriptive option.
The combination of moral disapproval and strong objection indicates an attitude that is strongly critical and indignant.
'Indignant' accurately captures anger aroused by perceived injustice or misgovernance.

Key Concept

Identifying Writer's Tone and Attitude through Diction
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Topics

Writer's Purpose, Tone, Mood, and Attitude

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