Question

from nature addresses, and lectures

1. the first in time and the first in importance of the influences upon the mind is that of nature. every day, the sun; and, after sunset, night and her stars. ever the winds blow; ever the grass grows. every day, men and women, conversing, beholding and beholden. the scholar is he of all men whom this spectacle most engages. he must settle its value in his mind. what is nature to him? there is never a beginning, there is never an end, to the inexplicable continuity of this web of god, but always circular power returning into itself. therein it resembles system shooting like rays, upward, downward, without centre, without circumference, — in the mass and in the particle, nature hastens to render account of herself to the mind. classification begins. to the young mind, every thing is individual, stands by itself. by and by, it finds how to join two things, and see in them one nature; then three, then three thousand; and so, tyrannized over by its own unifying instinct, it goes on tying things together, diminishing anomalies, discovering roots running under ground, whereby contrary and remote things cohere, and flower out from one stem. it presently learns, that, since the dawn of history, there has been a constant accumulation and classifying of facts. but what is classification but the perceiving that these objects are not chaotic, and are not foreign, but have a law which is also a law of the human mind? the astronomer discovers that geometry, a pure abstraction of the human mind, is the measure of planetary motion. the chemist finds proportions and intelligible method throughout matter; and science is nothing but the finding of analogy, identity, in the most

which statement best summarizes the main assertion made in this passage?

1. man takes control of nature through science.
2. man possesses an admiration for nature’s beauty.
3. man shows indifference to nature through his activities.
4. man desires to find the interrelation of elements in nature.

Explanation:

• Option 1: The passage focuses on man's exploration of nature's order (classification, finding analogies/identity) rather than controlling nature. Eliminate.
• Option 2: The text describes man being engaged with nature (sun, stars, grass, etc.) and seeking to understand its order, showing admiration (e.g., "beholding and beheld"). This aligns with the passage's theme of man's engagement with nature's beauty and order.
• Option 3: The passage shows man actively engaging with nature (classifying, discovering), so "indifference" is incorrect. Eliminate.
• Option 4: While the passage mentions finding order, the main assertion is about man's admiration and engagement with nature's beauty and the process of classification to understand it, not just "interrelation of elements". Option 2 is a better summary.

Answer:

1. Man possesses an admiration for nature’s beauty.