Read the excerpt from the interview with e. y. (yip) harburg.
we thought american business was the rock of gibraltar. we were the prosperous nation, and nothing could stop us now. a brownstone house was forever. you gave it to your kids and they put marble fronts on it. there was a feeling of continuity. if you made it, it was there forever. suddenly the big dream exploded.
how do harburgís words reflect the experience of many americans during the great depression?

The correct answer is B) like Harbur, many were shocked by stock market collapse and ensuing Depression.

Harbur’s words reflect the experience many Americans had during the Great Depression in that like Harbur, many were shocked by stock market collapse and ensuing Depression.

The words from Harburg in the excerpt expressed the idea that prosperity would last forever, was a given, and nobody expected the opposite. Then the stock market crashed and that was a shock to the American people that never dreamt of an event like that. Harburg said “If you made it it was there forever. Suddenly the big dream exploded.” That is how Harburg literally refers to the shock they felt when they knew about the market collapse.  

The other options of the question were, a) like Harbur, many expected they could maintain their possessions during the Depression, c) like Harbur, many were grateful for the lessons they learned, and d) like Harbur, many made meticulous plans to prepare for the Depression.

eli whitney was an american inventor best known for inventing the cotton gin. this was one of the key inventions of the industrial revolution and shaped the economy of the antebellum south.