[BRUTUS.] And to speak truth of Caesar, I have not known when his affections swayed
More than his reason. But 'tis a common proof
That lowliness is young ambition’s ladder,
Whereto the climber-upward turns his face;
But when he once attains the upmost round,
He then unto the ladder turns his back,
Looks in the clouds, scorning the base degrees
By which he did ascend. So Caesar may.
Then lest he may, prevent. And since the quarrel
Will bear no colour for the thing he is,
Fashion it thus: that what he is, augmented,
Would run to these and these extremities;
And therefore think him as a serpent’s egg
Which, hatched, would as his kind grow mischievous,
And kill him in the shell.

Which piece of evidence best supports the theme that power can corrupt people?

"lowliness is young ambition's ladder, / Whereto the climber-upward turns his face"
"scorning the base degrees / By which he did ascend"
"I have not known when his affections swayed / More than his reason"
"the quarrel / Will bear no colour for the thing he is"

scorning the base degrees / By which he did ascend"

Explanation:

The piece of evidence best supports the theme that power can corrupt people is "scorning the base degrees / By which he did ascend".

When people attain power, most tend to forget their root and the people who helped them when they didn't have the power. They tend to become proud and not as humble as they were before. This is illustrated in the passage as scorning the base degrees by which he ascend.

The correct option is B.

answer: third

explanation:

1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)