Read this excerpt from We Beat the Street George would not give up. "Hey, look. I really want to do this. I think we could ALL do this-the three of us--together!"
"Maybe," Rameck said slowly.
"It's an awful long time," Sampson said with a sigh.
"Man, we can go to college for FREE!" George said, trying to convince them.
"Free is always good," Rameck said with a grin.
"What do we have to lose? Let's just do the applications and see what happens," George suggested.
"Yeah, man-why not?" Sampson told the others. "Let's go for it."
What central idea in the story do the details in this excerpt support?
O Great opportunities rarely come along.
O Taking risks is often difficult and overwhelming.
o One should take advantage of opportunities.
One should make the most of friendships.

Read this passage from william faulkner's the sound and the fury: i says no i never had university advantages because at harvard they teach you how to go for a swim at night without knowing how to swim and at sewanee they dont even teach you what water is. i says you might send me to the state university; maybe i'll learn how to stop my clock with a nose spray and then you can send ben to the navy i says or to the cavalry anyway, they use geldings in the cavalry. which best describes the narrator's tone in this passage? a. bitter b. angry c. sarcastic d. all of the above

Which underlined word in the sentence is a demonstrative adjective? these brown shoes fit my feet very well.

(20 points) passage: this year will be a record-breaking year for storms 1it looks like 2012 will be a year for the record books. thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes have increased across the country. the storms' high winds and heavy rains are making history. early tornado and hurricane seasons 2in march, not usually a busy month for tornadoes, the south and midwest had a large number of twisters. warm weather made conditions ripe for the creation of tornadoes. on some days, twisters dropped from the sky by the dozen. 3hurricane season also came early. two tropical storms hit the southeast in may. two more strong storms followed in june. severe thunderstorms 4many states that have escaped tornadoes and hurricanes have had severe thunderstorms. these giant storms dumped several inches of rain and caused flooding across the northeast and midwest. 5the end of hurricane season is months away, and this year's storm count and rainfall amounts could leave 2011 in the dust. forecasters say the wet, windy weather might stick around until fall. labor day parade rained out 6there is no joy in green town, where the annual labor day parade was called off because of heavy rain. the town's mayor says the parade hasn't been rained out in fifty years. 7a strong band of thunderstorms hit green town on sunday. more than two inches of rain fell each hour. by monday morning, main street looked more like a creek than a parade route. mayor nora bell said she had to call off the parade. "the heavy rains have created a serious safety issue in green town," she said. 8the loss of the labor day parade is green town's second disappointment this summer. in may, the memorial day parade was also called off because of rain. "this must be one of the wettest summers in history," mayor bell said. 9according to the national weather service, mayor bell is right. this summer will break rainfall records in green town and across the country. question: who would obtain the most useful information from the passage? a) someone planning a holiday picnic. b) someone interested in documenting annual meteorological patterns. c) an advocate for the green town labor day parade. d) someone who wishes to do research on the alleged truth of the "global warming" phenomenon.