In which two sentences does the author use an ironic tone toward the subject?
she had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished man; so she let herself be married to a little clerk of the ministry of public instruction.
natural ingenuity, instinct for what is elegant, a supple mind are their sole hierarchy, and often make of women of the people the equals of the very greatest ladies.
the girl was one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks.
she dressed plainly because she could not dress well, but she was unhappy as if she had really fallen from a higher station.
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Read the following excerpt from "dark tower" by claude mckay before you choose your answer. "we shall not always plant while others reap the golden increment of bursting fruit, nor always countenance, abject and mute, that lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; not everlastingly while others sleep shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, not always bend to some more subtle brute. we were not made eternally to weep. the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark, white stars, is no less lovely being dark; and there are buds that cannot bloom at all in light, but crumple, piteous, and fall. so in the dark we hid the heart that bleeds, and wait, and tend our agonizing needs." in context, the expression "the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark,/ white stars, is no less lovely being dark; " is best interpreted as a. the light of the stars overpowers the black of night b. the black of night overpowers the light of the stars c. black and white contribute equally to the beauty of the night sky d. black and white continuously compete for prominence in the night sky