Read the excerpt from "A Modest Proposal." Then as to the females, it would, I think, with humble submission, be a loss to the publick, because they soon would become breeders themselves: And besides, it is not improbable that some scrupulous people might be apt to censure such a practice, (although indeed very unjustly) as a little bordering upon cruelty, which, I confess, hath always been with me the strongest objection against any project, how well soever intended. Which statement is an example of understatement in this excerpt?
Answer
A
Women becoming breeders would be a "loss to the publick."
B
The criticism of the practice would be levied “very unjustly.”
C
Many women would "become breeders themselves."
D
Some people "might be apt to" criticize the practice.
Explanation
The speaker understates how people would react to the horrific proposal by saying they “might be apt to” criticize it, as though criticism were only a mild possibility. The phrase “a little bordering upon cruelty” similarly minimizes the proposal’s cruelty. This is understatement; the criticism would plainly be much stronger than the speaker suggests.
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