Extra! extra! backyard birding
many schools, families, and young birders across the country participate in the "great backyard bird count." while not as long as a "big year," the "great backyard bird count" happens every year. it depends on birders and families across the country to watch feeders and other areas in their yards and count the number of birds they see. unlike the "big year," the goal is not to see who can count the most birds. instead, participants in this event work together to bird experts get a good idea of how birds are doing. participants are given checklists and enter their sightings on a website. called a "citizen-science" project, this event is open to anyone, requires no travel, and happens every year over one weekend in february.

part a:
what is the main idea of the extra! extra! section?

fill in blank 1 using a, b, c, or d.
a. the backyard bird count offers checklists.
b. the backyard bird count creates more friendly competitions.
c. the backyard bird count benefits birds and scientists.
d. the backyard bird count is for everyone, not just competitors

Read the excerpt from cristina garcia’s dreaming in cuban.i don’t really want to talk about my father but i end up telling minnie how he used to take me horseback riding on our ranch, strapping me in his saddle with a leather seat belt he designed just for me. dad’s family owned casinos in cuba, and had one of the largest ranches on the island. there were beef cattle and dairy cows, horses, pigs, goats, and lambs. dad fed them molasses to fatten them, and gave the chickens corn and sorghum until they laid vermilion eggs, rich with vitamins. he took me on an overnight inspection once. we camped out under a sapodilla tree and listened to the pygmy owls with their old women’s voices. my father knew i understood more than i could say. he told me stories about cuba after columbus came. he said that the spaniards wiped out more indians with smallpox than with muskets.how does the structure of the excerpt add meaning to the passage? it includes historical information about the spaniards and indians to indicate the work is nonfiction.it describes the setting of the ranch owned by pilar’s cuban grandparents to explain family values.it uses several narrators to share their points of view about past and present life in cuba.it manipulates the chronological order of events to reveal the close relationship between pilar and her father.