20
Select the correct text in the passage.
Which five sections in this excerpt from The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde show that Lady Bracknell places utmost importance on weal
and appearances?
LADY BRACKNELL (Sitting down again.): A moment, Mr. Worthing. A hundred and thirty thousand pounds! And in the Funds! Miss Cardew seems to
me a most attractive young lady, now that I look at her. Few girls of the present day have any really solid qualities, any of the qualities that last, and
improve with time. We live, I regret to say, in an age of surfaces. (To Cecily.) Come over here, dear. (Cecily goes across.) Pretty child! your dress is
sadly simple, and your hair seems almost as Nature might have left it. But we can soon alter all that. A thoroughly experienced French maid produces =
really marvellous result in a very brief space of time. I remember recommending one to young Lady Lancing, and after three months her own husband
did not know her.
JACK: And after six months nobody knew her.
LADY BRACKNELL. (Glares at Jack for a few moments. Then bends, with a practised smile, to Cecily.): Kindly turn round, sweet child. (Cecily turns
completely round.) No, the side view is what I want. (Cecily presents her profile.) Yes, quite as I expected. There are distinct social possibilities in your
profile. The two weak points in our age are its want of principle and its want of profile. The chin a little higher, dear. Style largely depends on the way
the chin is worn. They are worn very high, just at present. Algernon!