Effective and Ineffective Paraphrasing Directions: Read Each Passage

question 6

Multiple Choice

Effective and Ineffective Paraphrasing Directions: Read each passage.Then select the letter of the best paraphrase.
In 1899, the sociologist Thorstein Veblen took three previously published articles and combined them into a book titled The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions .In doing so , Veblen introduced to the American reading public the now famous term "conspicuous consumption." While many of Veblen's readers at the time prided themselves on having climbed the ladder of financial success and proved it to themselves and others by acquiring clothing, habits, and objects that carried a significant price tag, Veblen did not pat them on the back for it.Instead his book castigated readers, announcing that taking obvious pride in prosperity was nothing more than an indication of personal snobbery and deep insecurity. What Veblen did was make one of the very first arguments against believing that consumerism was the key to happiness.
Paraphrase

• A) Many writers have claimed that the key personality trait of an American is his or her patho-logical desire to buy products.With his "The Theory of the Leisure Class," Thorstein Veblen forced Americans to admit that they were guilty of "conspicuous consumption," and he called rich people arrogant savages.People who like to shop, according to Veblen, hope to make their friends and neighbors jealous.
• B) In 1899, the sociologist, Thorstein Veblen in his book "The Theory of the Leisure Class" introduced the term "conspicuous consumption," and he stunned his American readers readers by pointing out that the drive to get and spend money reveals deep feelings of inadequacy, insecurity, and cravings for superiority.Veblen said that Americans didn't really need most of the things they bought; they purchased those things in the hope that others would admire and look up to them.
• C) The best writing about Americans has been on the topic of their out-of-control consumer-ism.Thorstein Veblen, for instance, who invented the phrase "conspicuous consumption" (in his "The Theory of the Leisure Class") insisted that his countrymen bought things only to compensate for their own lack of character.