Question

Chapter I: The Cornerstone of Liberty

Three little vessels—the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery—left England in December, 1606, under the command of Captain Christopher Newport, to found a colony on the distant shores of Virginia. Two decades earlier Sir Walter Raleigh had sent out a group of settlers to what is now North Carolina, and they had disappeared mysteriously. What had happened to them? men asked. Had they been killed by the Indians? Had they fallen victims to disease? Had they starved? Those who shared in this new venture must have wondered if a like fate awaited them in this strange new land.

But their spirits rose when they entered Chesapeake Bay. Landing parties were delighted with the "fair meddowes ... full of flowers of divers kinds and colors," the "goodly tall trees," and the streams of fresh water. It was a smiling country which seemed to bid them welcome. But when they entered the mouth of a broad river, which they called the James in honor of their King, and made their way up into the country, new doubts must have assailed them. They knew that savages lived in the dense forests which lined both banks; might not strange wild beasts live there also? Might there not be fatal diseases unknown in Europe?

What of the following best summarizes the main point of including information about the earlier colony of Sir Walter Raleigh?
a
To introduce one source of the settlers' fears
b
To imply the new settlers would succeed
c
To suggest causes of the earlier failures
d
To create conflict for the new colonists

Answer 1

The option that best summarizes the main point of including information about the earlier colony of Sir Walter Raleigh is:

A. To introduce one source of the settlers' fears.

Step-by-step explanation:

The lines below have the answer to the question:

Those who shared in this new venture must have wondered if a like fate awaited them in this strange new land.

The author's purpose in including information about the earlier colony of Sir Walter Raleigh is to introduce one source of fear of the new settlers. The author believes the settlers certainly asked themselves about what had happened to the previous party sent to the New World. Not knowing what their fate had been added to the settlers' fears. They wondered if the same - whatever it was - would happen to them. Notice that, once they arrived, those same questions arose again. At first fascinated by the beauty of the country, the settlers soon began to think of the dangers that lurked all around them.