Question

the tragedy of julius caesar, part 3: drawing conclusions
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read the excerpt from julius caesar, act 2, scene 1.
decius. shall no man else be touched, but only
caesar?
cassius. decius, well urged. i think it is not meet
mark antony, so well beloved of caesar,
should outlive caesar. we shall find of him
a shrewd contriver. and you know his means,
if he improve them, may well stretch so far
as to annoy us all; which to prevent,
let antony and caesar fall together.
brutus. our course will seem too bloody, caius
cassius,
to cut the head off and then hack the limbs,
like wrath in death and envy afterwards—
for antony is but a limb of caesar.
let us be sacrificers, but not butchers, caius.
which conclusion does brutus excerpt best support?
mark antonys life will be spared because he will be
useless without caesar.
mark antony should also be assassinated because
he and caesar are so close.
all of caesars followers should be put to death, not
just mark antony.
no matter whom brutus and the others kill, the
people will see brutus and the others as murderers.

Explanation:

Brutus says "Let us be sacrificers, but not butchers" which implies that killing only Caesar (the "head") and sparing Antony (a "limb") would make their actions seem more just. He compares killing only Caesar to cutting off the head and not hacking the limbs (Antony). This supports the idea that Mark Antony's life will be spared because he will be useless without Caesar (as a limb without a head). The other options go against Brutus' words. He doesn't suggest killing Antony (so the second option is wrong), he differentiates between Caesar (head) and Antony (limb) so the third option is wrong. And there's no indication in his words about how people will view them in the fourth option.

Answer:

Mark Antony's life will be spared because he will be useless without Caesar.