Question

Excerpt from: A Baker's Dozen

David Matherne

I ain't no valedictorian. I'll give you that. But I'm certainly not the loser my step-father Johnnie likes to think I am, either. Mr. oh-so-famous local Johnnie Pipehead of "Johnnie on the Spot Plumbing." (Real clever name, huh?) Just because he only took the requisite twelve years to make it through school and graduate from his alma mater, and I took slightly longer, that doesn't make me a loser. So what if I took "the road less traveled by" and added a one-year, scenic detour to my journey--thanks to Algebra, Physical Science, and well...Latin. Did I mention Chemistry? Let's just say I liked Latin but Latin didn't much care for me. Just because I took thirteen years in all to get out of Melancholy High with a diploma doesn't make me some loser. Being nothing at all, now THAT would make me a loser.

Based on the first paragraph of the passage, what inference can you make about the speaker?
A) The speaker is lazy and did not excel in high school.
B) The speaker respects his step-father and regrets disappointing him.
C) The speaker is intelligent and clever, but did not excel in high school.
D) The speaker thinks he is a loser because he did not excel in high school.

Answer 1

C

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

Answer: C) The speaker is intelligent and clever, but did not excel in high school.

Step-by-step explanation: In the given excerpt from "A Baker's Dozen " by David Matherne, we can see the speaker saying that just because he lasted a year longer than his father to finish school and graduate (his father did it in 12 years and he did it in 13), that doesn't make him a loser (like his father thinks). So from the given options we can make the inference that the speaker is intelligent and clever, but did not excel in high school.