Question

select the correct text in the passage.
which of these excerpts from \the first seven years\ by bernard malamud best exemplifies the desire to improve ones socioeconomic status?

1. he couldnt exactly recall when the thought had occurred to him, because it was clear he had more than once considered suggesting to the boy that he go out with miriam.
2. max inquired about the price, and the shoemaker cleared his throat and asked the boy, above sobels insistent hammering, would he please step through the side door there into the hall.
3. \ever since you went to high school,\ he said, in the dimly-lit hallway, \i watched you in the morning go to the subway to school, and i said always to myself, this is a fine boy that he wants so much an education.\
4. he was a stocky man, poorly dressed, with a bald head that had once been blond, a severely plain face and soft blue eyes prone to tears over the sad books he read, a young man but old—no one would have guessed thirty.

Explanation:

Pursuing education is a common way to improve socioeconomic status, and this excerpt explicitly highlights a character's strong desire for education, which directly ties to the goal of upward socioeconomic mobility. The other excerpts focus on romantic suggestion, a business interaction, and physical description, which do not relate to improving socioeconomic standing.

Answer:

1. "Ever since you went to high school," he said, in the dimly-lit hallway, "I watched you in the morning go to the subway to school, and I said always to myself, this is a fine boy that he wants so much an education."