Read the passage from “Rivers and Stories: An Introduction, Part 2.”

Rivers, of course, are like stories, and they are like stories that classical strictures on form would approve. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end. In between, they flow. Or would flow, if we let them. It’s interesting to consider the fact that, in popular culture, in commercial television, what’s happened to rivers has happened to stories. A dam is a commercial interruption in a river. A commercial is a dam impeding the flow of a story: it passes the human imagination through the turbine of a sales pitch to generate consumer lust.

How does the author achieve the tone of the passage?

A. The author’s use of phrases like popular culture and commercial television creates a sarcastic tone.

B.The author’s use of words like stories and imagination creates a childlike tone.

C.The author’s use of figurative language creates a reflective tone.

D.The author’s use of technical language creates a pessimistic tone.