Read the excerpt from Act II of Hamlet. Hamlet: Slanders, sir: for the satirical rogue says here that old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams: all which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down; for you yourself, sir, should be old as I am, if, like a crab, you could go backward.
Answer
A
old men have grey beards, that their faces are wrinkled
B
their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum
C
all which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe
D
be old as I am, if, like a crab, you could go backward
Explanation
Hamlet’s speech is ironic because he tells Polonius that Polonius would be as old as Hamlet if he could move backward like a crab. Hamlet is much younger, so the remark playfully reverses their ages and mocks Polonius. The description of old men in choices A and B is presented as a satirical rogue’s claim, while choice C says Hamlet believes it; neither creates the same irony as choice D.
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