Which statement best summarizes the central idea of
this paragraph?

America is an improbable idea. A mongrel nation built of
ever-changing disparate parts, it is held together by a
notion, the notion that all men are created equal, though
everyone knows that most men consider themselves
better than someone. "Of all the nations in the world, the
United States was built in nobody's image," the historian
Daniel Boorstin wrote. That's because it was built of bits
and pieces that seem discordant, like the crazy quilts that
have been one of its great folk-art forms, velvet and calico
and checks and brocades. Out of many, one. That is the
ideal.

-"A Quilt of a Country,"

Anna Quindlen

Answers:

A. America claims to be equal, but it is not

B. The ideal America embraces its diverse heritage.

C. Daniel Boorstin thinks that America has a negative
image

D. America is like a colorful quilt.

Read the following excerpt from "dark tower" by claude mckay before you choose your answer. "we shall not always plant while others reap the golden increment of bursting fruit, nor always countenance, abject and mute, that lesser men should hold their brothers cheap; not everlastingly while others sleep shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute, not always bend to some more subtle brute. we were not made eternally to weep. the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark, white stars, is no less lovely being dark; and there are buds that cannot bloom at all in light, but crumple, piteous, and fall. so in the dark we hid the heart that bleeds, and wait, and tend our agonizing needs." in context, the expression "the night, whose sable breast relieves the stark,/ white stars, is no less lovely being dark; " is best interpreted as a. the light of the stars overpowers the black of night b. the black of night overpowers the light of the stars c. black and white contribute equally to the beauty of the night sky d. black and white continuously compete for prominence in the night sky