Choose the correct statements about Victorian prose writers:

1. A. Macaulay was the practical man of affairs, helping and rejoicing in the progress of his beloved country.
2. B. Ruskin was like a Hebrew prophet just in from the desert, and the burden of his message was 'Woe to them that are at ease in Zion!'
3. C. Arnold was much like the cultivated Greek; his voice was soft, his speech suave, but he left the impression that you must be deficient in culture.
4. D. Newman was like the best French prose writers in expressing his thought with such naturalness and apparent ease that, without thinking of style, we received exactly the impression he meant to convey.

1. AA, B and C only
2. BA, C and D only
3. CB, C and E only
4. DC, D and E only

Pick an option to check yourself, or open the answer below.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B. A, C and D only

Explanation

These comparisons come from William J. Long's English Literature. There the 'Hebrew prophet just in from the desert' is Carlyle, not Ruskin, so B is wrong; A, C and D are as Long describes Macaulay, Arnold and Newman. (Options 3 and 4 refer to an 'E' that does not appear in the list.)