The following is an excerpt from George Orwell's The Road to Wigan Pier, a study of conditions in northern England (Evaluating the Evidence 26.3): "[The poor and the unemployed] don't necessarily lower their standards by cutting out luxuries and concentrating on necessities; more often it is the other way about-the more natural way, if you come to think of it. Hence the fact that in a decade of unparalleled depression, the consumption of all cheap luxuries has increased. The two things that have probably made the greatest difference of all are the movies and the mass-production of cheap smart clothes since the war. The youth who leaves school at fourteen and gets a blind-alley job is out of work at twenty, probably for life; but for two pounds ten on the hire-purchase system he can buy himself a suit which, for a little while and at a little distance, looks as though it had been tailored in Savile Row."
According to Orwell, the depression led to

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Orwell states that during the depression, the consumption of cheap luxuries actually increased, such as movies and mass-produced cheap clothes. This suggests that option C is the correct answer. Option A can be ruled out as Orwell does not mention a return to traditional values, and option B is not supported by the excerpt as there is no mention of working-class militancy. Option D is also not supported by the excerpt as Orwell notes that the poor and unemployed did not necessarily adopt an austere lifestyle, but instead increased their consumption of cheap luxuries.

The Following Is an Excerpt from George Orwell's the Road