Read the excerpt from "A Quilt of a Country."America is an improbable idea. A mongrel nation built of ever-changing disparate parts, it is held together by a notion, the notion that all men are created equal, though everyone knows that most men consider themselves better than someone. "Of all the nations in the world, the United States was built in nobody's image," the historian Daniel Boorstin wrote. That's because it was built of bits and pieces that seem discordant, like the crazy quilts that have been one of its great folk-art forms, velvet and calico and checks and brocades. Out of many, one. That is the ideal.The reality is often quite different, a great national striving consisting frequently of failure. Many of the oft-told stories of the most pluralistic nation on earth are stories not of tolerance, but of bigotry. Slavery and sweatshops, the burning of crosses and the ostracism of the other. Children learn in social-studies class and in the news of the lynching of blacks, the denial of rights to women, the murders of gay men. It is difficult to know how to convince them that this amounts to "crown thy good with brotherhood," that amid all the failures is something spectacularly successful. Perhaps they understand it at this moment [in the aftermath of 9/11], when enormous tragedy, as it so often does, demands a time of reflection on enormous blessings.
Read the excerpt from "A Quilt of a Country."What is the point of this splintered whole? What is the point of a nation in which Arab cabbies chauffeur Jewish passengers through the streets of New York—and in which Jewish cabbies chauffeur Arab passengers, too, and yet speak in theory of hatred, one for the other? What is the point of a nation in which one part seems to be always on the verge of fisticuffs with another, blacks and whites, gays and straights, left and right, Pole and Chinese and Puerto Rican and Slovenian? Other countries with such divisions have in fact divided into new nations with new names, but not this one, impossibly interwoven even in its hostilities.
Juan is writing an essay based on what he read in "The Most Dangerous Game, Part 1" and "The Most Dangerous Game, Part 2" Which excerpt from the story best supports his idea that Rainsford learns to sympathize with the animals he normally hunts?
in modern languageto revise the pointto capture the soundin the author’s style
Read the excerpt from "Lather and Nothing Else" He went on talking. He evidently took it for granted that I was on the side of the existing regime."The people must have gotten a scare with what happened the other day,” he said."Yes,” I replied, as I finished tying the knot against his nape, which smelt of sweat."Good show, wasn’t it?”"Very good,” I answered, turning my attention now to the brush. The man closed his eyes wearily and awaited the cool caress of the lather.
Which line from Dr. King’s "I Have a Dream" speech most appeals to the emotions of his listeners?
Which sentence contains a nonrestrictive clause and is punctuated correctly?
The most reliable source for a presentation about education in multi-age classes would be a
Read the excerpt from a student’s essay.From the beginning, Rainsford is an individual who enjoys the hunt and wastes no thought on the animals he kills. On the boat, Whitney expresses some empathy for the animals they hunt, while Rainsford scoffs at the notion that animals feel fear or any other emotion. In fact, Rainsford belittles Whitney, telling him that "[t]he world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are the hunters.”
Read the paragraph.(1) Baseball is unique because it is the only sport in America that does not have a time clock—although tennis and softball are not timed, either. (2) Instead, games last for nine innings, unless there is a tie after the ninth, in which case they go extra innings. (3) Nine-inning games last an average of three hours. (4) Extra innings tack on time to an already long game, but the end is always the most exciting part. (5) Most people in the US watch baseball and are fans of their hometown team.
Read the excerpt from "Finding Unity in the Alabama Coal Mines.”The coal companies, in response, recruited workers from as far as New York’s Ellis Island, where newly arriving immigrants were desperate for jobs.
Read the passage from "Annabel Lee.”A wind blew out of a cloud, chillingMy beautiful Annabel Lee;
What is the central idea of the letter to the editor?
Read the excerpt from the conclusion of the letter to the editor.We need to urge our city planners to say goodbye to the urban sprawl that has engulfed our nation like a tidal wave in the last few decades, and instead build more traditional mixed-use neighborhoods that were once the building blocks of city infrastructure in our nation. As the authors of Suburban Nation wrote: "We shape our cities and then our cities shape us. The choice is ours whether we build subdivisions that debase the human spirit or neighborhoods that nurture sociability and bring out the best in our nature.”
Read the excerpt from "It's Only Fair.”Maritza rolled her eyes. "That’s why we should do our report on Irene Morgan,” she said. "She was the first black person to get a new law made by refusing to give up her seat for a white person on a bus. Rosa Parks might be more famous for it, but Irene Morgan did it first. "Listen,” she said, not giving Avery a chance to respond. "It’s a great story.”
Read the excerpt from "It's Only Fair.”"It’s only fair,” Maritza told her friend Avery as they sat in their empty classroom after school. "The first person to do a famous thing should get the most credit for it. I mean, how much do you hear about the second person to fly an airplane over the Atlantic Ocean? Or the second guy who landed on the moon?”
In "It's Only Fair,” the point of view is
Read the excerpt from "Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?”But I didn’t sleep. I thought about how utterly miserable it would feel to mess up on stage, plus get a vile grade in English class, plus watch Allison gloat. I got up before my alarm went off, arrived at school early, and slogged through the day like a sleepwalker. Finally the last bell chimed."Ready?” Shondra asked, when we were alone again in the spare classroom. We had two hours until we had to meet our teacher backstage.
Which statement best expresses the theme of "Wherefore Art Thou Romeo?”
Read the passage from "The Tell-Tale Heart.”It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old man. He had never wronged me. He had never given me insult. For his gold I had no desire. I think it was his eye! yes, it was this! He had the eye of a vulture—a pale blue eye, with a film over it.
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