Question

the book of national parks
by robert sterling yard
chapter 1
at the time of this books publication in 1919, the national park system in the united states was barely three years old, though national parks had existed for almost fifty years. in this excerpt from his book on the national park system of the united states, the author explains why the national parks in america are the best in the world.
(1) the national parks of the united states are areas of supreme scenic splendor or other unique quality which congress has set apart for the pleasure and benefit of the people. at this writing they number eighteen, sixteen of which lie within the boundaries of the united states and are reached by rail and road. those of greater importance have excellent roads, good trails, and hotels or hotel camps, or both, for the accommodation of visitors, also public camp grounds where visitors may pitch their own tents. outside the united states there are two national parks, one enclosing three celebrated volcanic craters, the other conserving the loftiest¹ mountain on the continent.
(2) the starting point for any consideration of our national parks necessarily is the recently realized fact of their supremacy in world scenery. it was the sensational force of this realization which intensely attracted public attention at the outset of the new movement, many thousands hastened to see these wonders, and their reports spread the tidings² throughout the land and gave the movement its increasing impetus³.
(3) the simple facts are these:
(4) the swiss alps, except for several unmatchable individual features, are excelled in beauty, sublimity⁴ and variety by several of our own national parks, and these same parks possess other distinguished individual features unrepresented in kind or

Explanation:

Paragraphs 1 - 2 talk about the U.S. national parks being areas of supreme scenic splendor (Paragraph 1) and their supremacy in world scenery (Paragraph 2). Option C mentions the beauty (related to scenic splendor and supremacy in scenery) of national parks distinguishing the U.S. from other countries, which aligns with the main ideas of the two paragraphs. Option A is incorrect as the text emphasizes U.S. parks' superiority rather than other countries' parks being equal. Option B only focuses on Congress's act (a detail, not the main summary). Option D about availability and easy access is not the main point of the two paragraphs.

Answer:

C. The beauty of the national parks distinguishes the United States from other countries.