The Following Questions Refer to the Excerpt Below

The following questions refer to the excerpt below.
"Something new has come to confront American democracy… This is our proudest boast: 'The American citizen has more comforts and conveniences than kings had two hundred years ago.' It is a fact and this fact is the outward evidence of the new force which has crossed the path of American democracy. The increasing stream of automobiles and radios,buildings and bathrooms,furs and furniture,liners,hotels,bridges,vacuum cleaners…these are the signs… Consumptionism is bringing it about that the American citizen's first importance to his country is no longer that of citizen but that of consumer."
Samuel Strauss,"Things Are in the Saddle," Atlantic Monthly,1924
-The rise of the society described in the passage occurred amidst a general

A) rise in the standard of living.
B) decline in social conflict.
C) expansion of civil rights.
D) reduction of business profits.