Which of the following inferences is most strongly supported by the following lines taken from the novel written by Ethel Turner?

"Before you fairly start this story I should like to give you just a word of warning. If you imagine you are going to read of model children, with perhaps; a naughtily inclined one to point a moral, you had better lay down the book immediately and betake yourself to 'Sandford and Merton' or similar standard juvenile works. Not one of the seven is really good, for the very excellent reason that Australian children never are. In England, and America, and Africa, and Asia, the little folks may be paragons of virtue, I know little about them. But in Australia a model child is—I say it not without thankfulness—an unknown quantity."

Correct option is D

Explanation:

In the passage from Ethel Turner's work, the author discusses how the children in the story are distinctively Australian and different from the idealized "model children" commonly found in British juvenile literature. The reference to “Sandford and Merton”, which was a popular English children's book of the 19th century, shows that the idealized children in literature often come from a British middle-class background and reflect Anglo-Celtic virtues.

However, Turner suggests that Australian children are not idealized in the same way, indicating that they are uniquely Australian, with characteristics that do not conform to the conventional image of virtuous children in literature from Britain. The "unknown quantity" mentioned in the passage refers to the unconventional nature of Australian children, whose energy, spirit, and individuality make them different from their British counterparts.

This passage is emphasizing Australian identity as distinctively middle-class and Australian, marking them as different from children portrayed in British public school settings.

Information Booster:

Ethel Turner (1870–1958) was a prominent Australian writer best known for her novel Seven Little Australians (1894), which is a classic of children’s literature in Australia.

- Her works often reflect the complexities and struggles of growing up in Australia in the late 19th century.

- Seven Little Australians focuses on the Hunter family and particularly the seven children who, unlike typical children in British juvenile literature, are full of energy and adventure.

- The novel is deeply connected to the Australian cultural identity, with its focus on the Australian way of life as distinct from British colonial influence.

- The passage in question reflects a growing sense of Australian identity during a time when Australia was developing its own national character separate from British colonial influences.

- Ethel Turner writes about children who are distinctively Australian, not as reflections of British ideals, but as individuals with their own character and cultural nuances.

- The British public school model of children's literature, which focused on virtuous, disciplined children, was a dominant influence on the literary world of the time.

- Turner challenges this model by creating Australian children who are less idealized and more connected to the realities and unpredictability of Australian life.

- Seven Little Australians is a classic Australian children's literature novel. Set mainly in Sydney in the 1880s, it relates the adventures of the seven mischievous Woolcot children, their stern army father Captain Woolcot, and faithful young stepmother Esther.