Question

pierre-louis, josiah
\our needs here on earth are far too great for us to be spending money on an outpost in outer space.\ (paragraph 15)
what is the rhetorical effect of baucus’s contrasting ideas in this sentence?
a it predicts that the space station outpost will be ignored by people in the future
b it criticizes space station advocates for misspending money meant for the project.
c it conceives of earth as a small planet among a great universe of uncaring forces.
d it suggests that earth as home to humanity is more important than anything in space.

Explanation:

The sentence contrasts Earth's great needs with spending on a space outpost. Option D says it suggests Earth (humanity's home) is more important than space things. Let's analyze others: A is about future ignoring (not in the sentence), B is about misspending (the sentence is about Earth's needs vs space spending, not misspending on the project), C is about Earth as small in universe (not what the contrast is about). So D matches the contrast of Earth's needs being too great to spend on space, implying Earth's importance.

Answer:

D. It suggests that Earth as home to humanity is more important than anything in space.