Which statement best traces the development of a
central idea from one paragraph to the next?
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.
Once these disparate parts were held together by a
common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and
the electrified fence of communism. With the end of
the cold war there was the creeping concern that
O The first paragraph describes different groups of
Americans. The second paragraph discusses what
unifies them
O The first paragraph describes ideals shared by
most Americans. The second paragraph describes
how these ideals sometimes differ.
O The first paragraph describes immigrant groups.
The second paragraph discusses native-born
Americans.
O The first paragraph describes America during
peaceful times. The second paragraph discusses
America during times of war.
Once these disparate parts were held together by a
common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and
the electrified fence of communism. With the end of
the cold war there was the creeping concern that
without a focus for hatred and distrust, a sense of
national identity would evaporate, that the left side of
the hyphen-African-American, Mexican-American,
Irish-American-would overwhelm the right. And slow-
growing domestic traumas like economic unrest and
increasing crime seemed more likely to emphasize
division than community. Today the citizens of the
United States have come together once more
because of armed conflict and enemy attack.
Terrorism has led to devastation—and unity,