Instructions: select the correct text in the passage.
this excerpt provides information about the roman empire. which sentence in the excerpt speak about the purpose of the text?
the history of the decline and fall of the roman empire

by edward gibbon (excerpt)

in the second century of the christian era, the empire of rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. the frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valor. the gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury. the image of a free constitution was preserved with decent reverence: the roman senate appeared to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive powers of government. during a happy period of more than fourscore years, the public administration was conducted by the virtue and abilities of nerva, trajan, hadrian, and the two antonines. (it is the design of this, and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of their empire; and after wards, from the death of marcus antoninus, to deduce the most important circumstances of its decline and fall; a revolution which will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth.)

(the principal conquests of the romans were achieved under the republic; and the emperors, for the most part, were satisfied with preserving those dominions which had been acquired by the policy of the senate, the active emulations of the consuls, and the martial enthusiasm of the people.) the seven first centuries were filled with a rapid succession of triumphs; but it was reserved for augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of moderation into the public councils. inclined to peace by his temper and situation, it was easy for him to discover that rome, in her present exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear from the chance of arms; and that, in the prosecution of remote wars, the undertaking became every day more difficult, the event more doubtful, and the possession more precarious, and less beneficial. the experience of augustus added weight to these salutary reflections, and effectually convinced him that, by the prudent vigor of his counsels, it would be easy to secure every concession which the safety or the dignity of rome might require from the most formidable barbarians. (instead of exposing his person and his legions to the arrows of the parthians, he obtained, by an honorable treaty, the restitution of the standards and prisoners which had been taken in the defeat of crassus.)

the answers to choose from are in paranthesis

The sentence in the excerpt that speaks about the purpose of the text is:  

(It is the design of this, and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of their empire; and afterwards, from the death of Marcus Antoninus, to deduce the most important circumstances of its decline and fall; a revolution which will ever be remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth.)  

Explanation:  

The excerpt begins by establishing a broad view of the Roman Empire’s rise and fall  

“In the second century of the Christian era, the empire of Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valor. The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and luxury.”  

The conclusion focuses on centuries of the roman empire, this is the reason why the right answer covers both the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.

i need the experts to you or i cant really compaire

"character is what you are in the dark." dwight lyman moody, in this very witty quotation of his, states we act and think differently when we are "in the dark", that is, when the spotlight is not on us and everyone can see us and consequently judge us. when reading, we tend to be sympathetic to some characters and their dilemmas. by being so, we are saying to ourselves that we agree with those characters' acts and choices, even if they are morally questionable if we have common sense in mind. dwight lyman moody's quotation applies very well to "crime and punishment", by   19th century russian writer fiodor dostoyevsky. raskolnikov, the main character, a former law student who spends his days reflecting upon life and its misery, draws a fatal conclusion: mankind is divided in two main categories: ordinary and extraordinary people. the first are the ones who lead a run-of-the-mill existence and are full of imperfections; the latter are the ones who are spiritually superior, the ones who always know better, and have the right to judge the ordinary ones, as well as eliminate them if for common good. raskolnikov considers himself as belonging to the extraordinary category and decides to kill an old lady who is a money lender and in whose house he rents a small room. raskolnikov compares himself to napoleon, who had the undeniable right to execute tons of people during the war in order to save his nation. of course what the main character decides to do is a horrendous crime, but as readers we feel it is the right thing for him to do, since the victim is a mean old woman who only thinks about money and keeps humiliating her younger sister. what one experiences is a mixture of sympathy and empathy for the character, even though he decides to commit homicide, which is not at all accepted or tolerated by civilized citizens. however, since readers are "in the dark", they allow themselves to feel in ways they would probably never dare to confess to anyone, no matter how nasty or vicious a character can be. after all, they are just reading and doing no harm. in other words, readers are in the dark and can be who they are without being judged.