What troubles the author most?
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Correct answer: A. The talent for humour and ridicule in the hands of ill-natured persons
Explanation
Ridicule is most dangerous when the ill-natured possess it.
Note: Passage II is from Addison's Spectator No. 23 (1711) on lampoons and satire, summarised here. Nothing more betrays a base, ungenerous spirit than 'the giving of secret stabs to a man's reputation'. Lampoons and satires written with wit are 'like poisoned darts', which wound incurably. The only excuse for ill-natured satirists is that their wounds are imaginary, an excuse he dismisses. Most troubling is that wit and humour, in ill-natured hands, make virtue and merit the objects of ridicule and buffoonery. Options 1 and 3 are close; the key is option 1.
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