Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . The restaurant opens for business at seven o’clock, and for the next hour or so, Elisa and the manager hold down the fort, handling all the orders. As the place starts to get busy, other employees arrive. Elisa works behind the counter. She takes orders and hands food to customers from breakfast through lunch. When she finally walks home, after seven hours of standing at a cash register, her feet hurt. She’s wiped out. She comes through the front door, flops onto the living room couch, and turns on the TV. And the next morning she gets up at 5:15 again and starts the same routine. How does the description of Elisa’s daily routine support the author’s claim that the fast food industry seeks out teenage employees?
Read the excerpt from Fast Food Nation . Instead of relying upon a small, stable, well-paid, and well-trained workforce, the fast food industry seeks out part-time, unskilled workers who are willing to accept low pay. Teenagers have been the perfect candidates for these jobs, not only because they are less expensive to hire than adults, but also because their youthful inexperience makes them easier to control. Which of the following choices best presents a counterclaim to the argument presented in this excerpt?
Read the excerpt from Anthem . This, my body and spirit, this is the end of the quest. I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning. I wished to find a warrant for being. I need no warrant for being, and no word of sanction upon my being. I am the warrant and the sanction. These sentences articulate which philosophical concept?
Read this excerpt from "Not a Dove, But No Longer a Hawk." I wonder, when I look at the bombed out peasant hamlets, the orphans begging and stealing on the streets of Saigon and the women and children with napalm burns lying on the hospital cots, whether the United States or any nation has the right to inflict this suffering and degradation on another people for its own ends. How do the allusions in this excerpt reinforce the meaning of the passage?
Read this excerpt from "Not a Dove, But No Longer a Hawk." Thus, in the final analysis, American strategy in Vietnam consists of creating a killing machine in the form of a highly equipped expeditionary corps and then turning this machine on the enemy in the hope that over the years enough killing will be done to force the enemy’s collapse through exhaustion and despair. This strategy, although possibly the only feasible alternative open to a modern industrial power in such a situation, is of necessity brutal and heedless of many of its victims. What is the philosophical concept in this excerpt?
Read this excerpt from "Not a Dove, But No Longer a Hawk." Despite these misgivings, I do not see how we can do anything but continue to prosecute the war. We can and should limit the violence and the suffering being inflicted on the civilians as much as possible, but for whatever reasons, successive Administrations in Washington have carried the commitment in Vietnam to the point where it would be very difficult to prevent any precipitate retreat from degenerating into a rout. If the United States were to disengage from Vietnam under adverse conditions, I believe that the resulting political and psychological shockwaves might undermine our entire position in Southeast Asia. Which statement best describes the paradox in this excerpt?
How does Spiegelman’s visual representation of the Holocaust aid with comprehension?
Read the excerpt from Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier's Home.” Nothing was changed in the town except that the young girls had grown up. They all wore sweaters and shirt waists with round Dutch collars. It was a pattern. He liked to look at them from the front porch as they walked on the other side of the street. He liked to watch them walking under the shade of the trees. He liked the round Dutch collars above their sweaters. He liked their silk stockings and flat shoes. He liked their bobbed hair and the way they walked. The author’s short, descriptive sentences
Which of the following statements support the claim in Freakonomics that “people are generally good even without enforcement”?
Read the following excerpt from Levitt and Dubner’s Freakonomics . The data also show that smaller offices are more honest than big ones. An office with a few dozen employees generally outpays by 3 to 5 percent an office with a few hundred employees. This may seem counterintuitive. In a bigger office, a bigger crowd is bound to convene around the bagel table, providing more witnesses to make sure you drop your money in the box. But in the big-office/small-office comparison, bagel crime seems to mirror street crime. There is far less street crime per capita in rural areas than in cities, in large part because a rural criminal is more likely to be known (and therefore caught). Also, a smaller community tends to exert greater social incentives against crime, the main one being shame. Which idea from this paragraph supports the claim that “smaller offices are more honest than big ones”?
Read the excerpt from Brown v. Board of Education . Reargument was largely devoted to the circumstances surrounding the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. The Supreme Court studies the Fourteenth Amendment to determine
Read the excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” The Negro has many pent up resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. How does King conclude this claim?
Imagine you are writing an ad slogan for a new type of breakfast cereal using the media technique of association. In order for the slogan to be effective, it should
Read this statement from an argumentative speech. The 15 percent increase in orchestra enrollment is in-your-face proof that publicity pays off. What is most needed to strengthen this statement?
Read this claim from an argumentative essay about zoos. Zoos must improve conditions so that they can meet the health and safety needs of the animals. Which piece of evidence, if true, would best support this claim?
Read the excerpt from “Take the Tortillas Out of Your Poetry.” My friend had concluded that if he took his language and culture out of his poetry, he stood a better chance of receiving a fellowship. He took out his native language, the poetic patois of our reality, the rich mixture of Spanish, English, pachuco and street talk which we know so well. In other words, he took the tortillas out of his poetry, which is to say he took the soul out of his poetry. Which best explains how Anaya’s tone establishes his voice in the excerpt?
Read the excerpt from The Great Gatsby . For a moment the last sunshine fell with romantic affection upon her glowing face; her voice compelled me forward breathlessly as I listened—then the glow faded, each light deserting her with lingering regret, like children leaving a pleasant street at dusk. Based on this excerpt, what inference can be made about Daisy Buchanan?
Which sentence best describes George Bergeron’s characterization in "Harrison Bergeron"?
Read the excerpt from "Harrison Bergeron." “You been crying?” he said to Hazel. “Yup,” she said. “What about?” he said. “I forget,” she said. “Something real sad on television.” “What was it?” he said. “It’s all kind of mixed up in my mind,” said Hazel. “Forget sad things,” said George. “I always do,” said Hazel. How does this interaction between George and Hazel develop Kurt Vonnegut’s social criticism?
Read the excerpt from Leslie Marmon Silko’s story "The Man to Send Rain Clouds." They turned off the highway onto the sandy pueblo road. Not long after they passed the store and post office they saw Father Paul's car coming toward them. When he recognized their faces he slowed his car and waved for them to stop. The young priest rolled down the car window. "Did you find old Teofilo?" he asked loudly. Leon stopped the truck. "Good morning, Father. We were just out to the sheep camp. Everything is O.K. now." "Thank God for that. Teofilo is a very old man. You really shouldn't allow him to stay at the sheep camp alone." "No, he won't do that any more now." What does this dialogue reveal about the priest’s standing within the community?
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