Question

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 without a
Which statement best traces the development of a
central idea from one paragraph to the next?
The first paragraph describes different groups of
Americans. The second paragraph discusses what
unifies them.
The first paragraph describes ideals shared by most
Americans. The second paragraph describes how
these ideals sometimes differ.
The first paragraph describes immigrant groups. The
second paragraph discusses native-born Americans.
The first paragraph describes America during
peaceful times. The second paragraph discusses
America during times of war.

Answer 1

The correct statement that traces the development of the central idea from one paragraph to the next is:

The first paragraph describes different groups of Americans. The second paragraph discusses what unifies them.

In the first paragraph, the author describes the various diverse groups of Americans, highlighting their differences and sometimes conflicting viewpoints. In the second paragraph, the author discusses what unifies these diverse groups in the context of the challenges they face in an interwoven and complex nation.