[单项选择]

Passage One
George Mason must rank with John Adams and James Madison as one of the three Founding Fathers who left their personal imprint(印记) on the fundamental law of the United States. He was the principal author of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which, because of its early formation, greatly influenced other state constitutions framed during the Revolution and, through them, the Federal Bill of ]Rights of 1791.
Yet Mason was essentially a private person with very. little inclination for public office or the ordinary operation of politics beyond the country level. His appearances in the Virginia colonial and state legislatures were relatively brief, and not until 1787 did he consent to represent his state at a continental or national congress or convention. Politics was never more than a means for Masson. He was at all times a man of public spirit, but politics was never a way of life, never for long his central concern. It took a revolution to pry h
A. Mason, a responsible citizen, resisted for so long the obligation to represent his state in politics
B. Mason, having so little political inclination, turned out to be such an influential statesman
C. Mason was willing to leave home and family for public service
D. Mason could be devoted family man and a statesman at the same time