A pronoun question with a blank after a verb tests what the pronoun stands for. Sort the choices by one thing or more than one, then ask what the verb acts on and read back for that noun. The pronoun and its noun must match: use a form for one thing if the noun names one thing, and a plural form if it names several. Forms with the same number can still refer to different things, so check their meanings.
Hints
- Hint 1
Look at the second sentence for what Pope treats as a costume. Connect the words before the blank to what he has borrowed.
- Hint 2
Check whether the noun for what Pope borrowed names one thing or more than one. Then make sure the pronoun refers back to that same noun.
Step-by-step
Sort, find the noun, and match
Step 1Sort the pronouns by number
Sort the pronouns into forms for one thing and forms for more than one. Which forms refer to more than one thing? Those and them do, while one can refer to a single thing. The blank follows treating and comes before as a costume he could put on, so the pronoun has to name what Pope compares to that costume.
- Step 2
Find what Pope compares to a costume
What did Pope borrow for satire? He borrowed its elevated diction, meaning the grand, formal language of epic poetry. He uses that grand language to tell a story about a minor social quarrel, which is why the text compares the language to a costume he can put on. So the borrowed language is what the pronoun stands for. Diction names language as a whole rather than several separate items, which means the noun is singular.
- Step 3
Match both number and meaning
The singular noun diction rules out those and them, because both pronouns refer to more than one thing. One can mean a single member of a group, but the passage hasn't named a group of separate items for Pope to choose from. We need a pronoun that points back to the language already named, and it does that: Pope borrowed the language and treated it as a costume. Choice D.