Which of the following is an example of an impromptu, or unplanned, speech?
a. a speech for the bride and groom at a wedding
b. reasons to carpool
c. my most embarrassing moment
d. how to frost a cake

Cancer, ‘the big c,’ as it is often called. her doctor felt sure but ordered more tests to confirm his suspicion. while cervical cancer in a woman julianne’s age was rare, her doctor admitted, it certainly was not unheard of in her demographic group. her doctor explained that this type of cancer is often caused by a common virus that many women do not even realize they have. the human papilloma virus can lead to this type of cancer if a woman’s immune system does not fight off the virus in its initial stages. julianne was devastated. her doctor began to discuss treatment options and suggested an oncologist specializing in this type of cancer, but julianne heard very little of what he said. her head was spinning with questions. overwhelmed, she wondered how she would break the news to her family and friends. according to the article, a physician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer is called

Which line in this excerpt from the great gatsby by f. scott fitzgerald contains a simile? about half way between west egg and new york the motor-road hastily joins the railroad and runs beside it for a quarter of a mile, so as to shrink away from a certain desolate area of land. this is a valley of ashes—a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air. occasionally a line of grey cars crawls along an invisible track, gives out a ghastly creak and comes to rest, and immediately the ash-grey men swarm up with leaden spades and stir up an impenetrable cloud which screens their obscure operations from your sight.

Which best expresses the irony present in this passage?