Question

\a modest proposal\
by jonathan swift
it is a melancholy object to those, who walk through this great town, or travel in the country, when they see the streets, the roads and cabbin-doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms. these mothers instead of being able to work for their honest livelihood, are forced to employ all their time in stroling to beg sustenance for their helpless infants who, as they grow up, either turn thieves for want of work, or leave their dear native country, to fight for the pretender in spain, or sell themselves to the barbadoes.
i think it is agreed by all parties, that this prodigious number of children in the arms, or on the backs, or at the heels of their mothers, and frequently of their fathers, is in the present deplorable state of the kingdom, a very great additional grievance; and therefore whoever could find out a fair, cheap and easy method of making these children sound and useful members of the common-wealth, would deserve so well of the publick, as to have his statue set up for a preserver of the nation.
but my intention is very far from being confined to provide only for the children of professed beggars: it is of a much greater extent, and shall take in the whole number of infants at a certain age, who are born of parents in effect as little able to support them, as those who demand our charity in the streets.
as to my own part, having turned my thoughts for many years, upon this
read the excerpt from \a modest proposal.\

thus the squire will learn to be a good landlord, and grow popular among his tenants, the mother will have eight shillings neat profit, and be fit for work till she produces another child.

on which false premise does this excerpt rely?

that a woman would be willing to pay her landlord rent

that a woman would be willing to keep the children she bears

that a woman would be willing to breed children to sell

that a woman would be willing to take over her landlord’s business

Explanation:

In "A Modest Proposal", the excerpt's false premise is that a woman would be willing to breed children to sell. The text's satirical proposal relies on this illogical and immoral assumption, as the context of the work is a satire on how the poor are exploited, and this premise goes against normal human values and the reality of maternal bonds (women do not typically breed children with the intent to sell them). The other options (paying rent, keeping children, taking over landlord’s business) do not align with the satirical and false foundational idea of the excerpt which centers around the absurd idea of selling children.

Answer:

that a woman would be willing to breed children to sell