As the concert ends, Clark says to his aunt, "From the trembling of her face, I could well believe that before the last numbers she had been carried out where the myriad graves are...where...hope had lain down with hop and dream with dream and, renouncing, slept." What is the most significant thematic inference you can draw from this passage? (in "A Wagner Matinee")
A. One thing a person wished for can end in disappointment.
B. A difficult life has the power to a person's spirit to sleep.
C. Our faces often reflect how we are feeling.
D. A person can realize hopeless regret over having made the wrong choice in life.

D.

Explanation:

The given passage has been taken from a short story titled "A Wagner Matinee" written by Willa Cather. The story is about Aunt Georgiana who visits the narrator Clark. His aunt thirty years ago eloped with her lover and was coming back to Nebraska after that.

When aunt visits Clark, he takes her to the concert and at this point, the narrator states the given passage. Her aunt was not happy with the decision she made thirty years ago and pours out her heart before the narrator that she don't want to go back. From this, it can be inferred that it is hopeless to regret over the past wrong decisions made.

Thus, the correct option is D.

E. society's willingness to forego other goods and services, both public and private.

A country's government has to deal with the problem of limited resources all the time. It also has to deal with accountability. This means that the government will need to make decisions on budget allocation based on the preferences of citizens. If a large percentage of citizens want security to be improved at the expense of other goods and services, this is more likely to be implemented.