It can be inferred form the passage that kerosene was preferable to whale oil because whale oil was too ______.

A．Oil Refining: A Historical Perspective
B．The California Gold Rush: Get Rich Quickly
C．Private Property: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted
D．Kerosene Lamps: A Light in the Tunnel

A．To explain the need for an increased supply of gold
B．To indicate the extent of United States mineral wealth
C．To describe the mood when oil was first discovered
D．To argue that gold was more valuable than oil