The following text is adapted from Jane Austen's 1814 novel Mansfield Park. The speaker, Tom, is considering staging a play at home with a group of his friends and family.

We mean nothing but a little amusement among ourselves, just to vary the scene, and exercise our powers in something new. We want no audience, no publicity. We may be trusted, I think, in choosing some play most perfectly unexceptionable; and I can conceive no greater harm or danger to any of us in conversing in the elegant written language of some respectable author than in chattering in words of our own.

Which choice best states the main purpose of the text?

Question

Accepted Answer

To offer Tom's assurance that the play will be inoffensive and involve only a small number of people

Answer

To clarify that the play will not be performed in the manner Tom had originally intended

Answer

To elaborate on the idea that the people around Tom lack the skills to successfully stage a play

Answer

To assert that Tom believes the group performing the play will be able to successfully promote it