Iwent north—i did not try to hide myself. when a god or a demon saw me, then i would die, but meanwhile i was no longer afraid. my hunger for knowledge burned in me—there was so much that i could not understand. after a while, i knew that my belly was hungry. i could have hunted for my meat, but i did not hunt. it is known that the gods did not hunt as we do—they got their food from enchanted boxes and jars. sometimes these are still found in the dead places—once, when i was a child and foolish, i opened such a jar and tasted it and found the food sweet. but my father found out and punished me for it strictly, for, often, that food is death. now, though, i had long gone past what was forbidden, and i entered the likeliest towers, looking for the food of the gods.

–“by the waters of babylon,”
stephen vincent benét

which conflicts does the character face in this passage? check all that apply.

character vs. society because he is breaking laws
character vs. self because his fear is growing
character vs. character because he faces demons
character vs. character because he faces the gods in the towers
character vs. nature because his hunger is driving him to take risks

Read the passage. excerpt from "why equal pay is worth fighting for" by senator elizabeth warren, april 17, 2014 i honestly can't believe that we're still arguing over equal pay in 2014. when i started teaching elementary school after college, the public school district didn't hide the fact that it had two pay scales: one for men and one for women. women have made incredible strides since then. but 40 years later, we're still debating equal pay for equal work. women today still earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, and they're taking a hit in nearly every occupation. bloomberg analyzed census data and found that median earnings for women were lower than those for men in 264 of 265 major occupation categories. in 99.6 percent of occupations, men get paid more than women. that's not an accident; that's discrimination. the effects of this discrimination are real, and they are long lasting. today, more young women go to college than men, but unequal pay makes it harder for them to pay back student loans. pay inequality also means a tougher retirement for women. . for middle-class families today, it usually takes two incomes to get by, and many families depend as much on mom's salary as they do on dad's, if not more. women are the main breadwinners, or joint breadwinners, in two-thirds of the families across the country, and pay discrimination makes it that much harder for these families to stay afloat. women are ready to fight back against pay discrimination, but it's not easy. today, a woman can get fired for asking the guy across the hall how much money he makes. here in the senate, sen. barbara mikulski (d-md.) introduced the paycheck fairness act to give women the tools to combat wage discrimination. it would ensure that salary differences have something to do with the actual job that they are doing, and not just because they are women. senator warren states that the effects of pay discrimination are long-lasting. is this a valid argument supported by accurate evidence? no; warren weakens her point by claiming that the paycheck fairness act would "give women the tools to combat wage discrimination." yes; warren supports her point by noting, "for middle-class families today, it usually takes two incomes to get by." yes; warren supports her point by noting, "pay inequality also means a tougher retirement for women." no; warren weakens her point by noting, "today, a woman can get fired for asking the guy across the hall how much money he makes."