Question

read the excerpt from part 4 of the odyssey.
as long as bread and good red wine remained to keep the men up, and appease their craving, they would not touch the cattle. but in the end, when all the barley in the ship was gone, so hunger drove them to scour the wild shore with angling hooks, for fishes and seafowl, whatever fell into their hands, and lean days wore their bellies thin.
what theme is best revealed by this conflict?
○ it is easy to uphold morals when one is not suffering
○ resourcefulness is all one needs to survive.
○ people can endure any suffering with teamwork.
○ rules are challenging to follow without a strong leader.

Explanation:

The excerpt shows that when the men had food (bread and wine), they followed the rule of not touching the cattle. But when they suffered from hunger (no barley left, lean days), they started scouring for food. This reveals that upholding morals (not touching the cattle) is easy when there's no suffering (having enough food), and becomes hard when suffering (hunger) occurs. The other options: "Resourcefulness is all one needs" is incorrect as the focus is on moral vs suffering, not just resourcefulness; "People can endure any suffering with teamwork" – the excerpt doesn't emphasize teamwork; "Rules are challenging to follow without a strong leader" – the excerpt's conflict is about suffering and morals, not lack of a strong leader.

Answer:

A. It is easy to uphold morals when one is not suffering