The following text is adapted from Oscar Wilde’s 1897 nonﬁction work De Profundis. 
People whose desire is solely for self-realisation never know where they are going. They can’t know. In one sense of the
word it is of course necessary to know oneself: that is the ﬁrst achievement of knowledge. But to recognise that the
soul of a man is unknowable, is the ultimate achievement of wisdom. The ﬁnal mystery is oneself. When one has
weighed the sun in the balance, and measured the steps of the moon, and mapped out the seven heavens star by star,
there still remains oneself. Who can calculate the orbit of his own soul?
It reinforces the text’s skepticism about the possibility of truly achieving self-knowledge.
It speculates that some readers will share the doubts expressed in the text about the value of self-knowledge.
It cautions readers that the text’s directions for how to achieve self-knowledge are hard to follow.
It concedes that the deﬁnition of self-knowledge advanced in the text is unpopular.
Choice A is the best answer. The text repeatedly claims that true self-knowledge can’t possibly be achieved, and this
rhetorical question emphasizes that point.
Choice B is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text never expresses doubts about the value of self-
knowledge—rather, the text expresses doubts about the possibility of achieving self-knowledge. Choice C is incorrect. The
underlined question doesn’t do this. The text doesn’t provide directions for how to achieve self-knowledge—rather, it claims
that true self-knowledge is impossible to achieve. Choice D is incorrect. The underlined question doesn’t do this. The text
doesn’t ever deﬁne self-knowledge, and popularity isn’t mentioned in the text at all.