How does Mrs. Robertson's note to Maria Elsia develop the theme of the passage?

What is one possible theme for the poem forgetfulness

The institute of international research is holding its annual convention. this year more than 500 scholars have been invited to hear research reports on many timely topics. approximately 250 big name scientists will be winging their way to washington, d.c. how can the underlined sentence be revised so that it fits the tone of the passage? a) approximately 250 people will be in washington, d.c. b) approximately 250 bigwigs will be flying to washington, d.c. c) approximately 250 science people will be going to washington, d.c. d) approximately 250 well-known scientists will be arriving in washington, d.c.

[1] nothing that comes from the desert expresses its extremes better than the unhappy growth of the tree yuccas. tormented, thin forests of it stalk drearily in the high mesas, particularly in that triangular slip that fans out eastward from the meeting of the sierras and coastwise hills. the yucca bristles with bayonet-pointed leaves, dull green, growing shaggy with age like an old [5] man's tangled gray beard, tipped with panicles of foul, greenish blooms. after its death, which is slow, the ghostly hollow network of its woody skeleton, with hardly power to rot, makes even the moonlight fearful. but it isn't always this way. before the yucca has come to flower, while yet its bloom is a luxurious, creamy, cone-shaped bud of the size of a small cabbage, full of sugary sap. the indians twist it deftly out of its fence of daggers and roast the prize for their [10] own delectation why does the author use the words "bayonet-pointed" (line 4) and "fence of daggers" (line 9) to describe the leaves of the yucca tree? . to create an image of the sharp edges of the plant to emphasize how beautiful the plant's leaves are to explain when and where the plant grows to show how afraid the author is of the plant