Question:
The author pined for two two-cent cones instead of one four-cent pie because
The author pined for two two-cent cones instead of one four-cent pie because
Show Hint
Read the paragraph beginning “Today, citizen and victim of a consumer society…”: the author himself says why he longed for the two cones.
Updated On: Nov 4, 2026
- it made dietetic sense.
- it was more fun.
- it suggested intemperance.
- it had a visual appeal.
- he was a glutton.
Show Solution
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The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Locate the author’s own explanation.
In the paragraph that begins “Today, citizen and victim of a consumer society…”, the author says: “It was for this precise reason, that I yearned for them: because two ice creams suggested excess.” The same paragraph adds that elders refused for the same reason, because two cones “looked indecent… a display of fictitious privilege, a boast of wealth”.
Step 2: Match with the options.
“Suggested excess” means it suggested intemperance (lack of restraint), which is option (3).
Step 3: Eliminate the others.
(1) The author says that “neither mathematics nor economy nor dietetics justified this refusal”, so dietetic sense was not the reason for his longing.
(2) Fun is never given as a reason.
(4) He does describe the children “licking first one, then the other” as a ritual, but the reason he states for yearning is the suggestion of excess, not the appearance.
(5) He calls the other children “ambidextrous gluttons”, but he does not say he longed for the cones because he was a glutton; he says it was what the two cones symbolized.
Final Answer:
The correct option is (3): it suggested intemperance.
In the paragraph that begins “Today, citizen and victim of a consumer society…”, the author says: “It was for this precise reason, that I yearned for them: because two ice creams suggested excess.” The same paragraph adds that elders refused for the same reason, because two cones “looked indecent… a display of fictitious privilege, a boast of wealth”.
Step 2: Match with the options.
“Suggested excess” means it suggested intemperance (lack of restraint), which is option (3).
Step 3: Eliminate the others.
(1) The author says that “neither mathematics nor economy nor dietetics justified this refusal”, so dietetic sense was not the reason for his longing.
(2) Fun is never given as a reason.
(4) He does describe the children “licking first one, then the other” as a ritual, but the reason he states for yearning is the suggestion of excess, not the appearance.
(5) He calls the other children “ambidextrous gluttons”, but he does not say he longed for the cones because he was a glutton; he says it was what the two cones symbolized.
Final Answer:
The correct option is (3): it suggested intemperance.
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