Excerpt from an occurrence at owl creek bridge - 2 ambrose bierce 2 the preparations being complete, the two private soldiers stepped aside and each drew away the plank upon which he had been standing. the sergeant turned to the captain, saluted and placed himself immediately behind that officer, who in turn moved apart one pace. these movements left the condemned man and the sergeant standing on the two ends of the same plank, which spanned three of the cross-ties of the bridge. the end upon which the civilian stood almost, but not quite, reached a fourth. this plank had been held in place by the weight of the captain; it was now held by that of the sergeant. at a signal from the former the latter would step aside, the plank would tilt and the condemned man go down between two ties. the arrangement commended itself to his judgement as simple and effective. his face had not been covered nor his eyes bandaged. he looked a moment at his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet. a piece of dancing driftwood caught his attention and his eyes followed it down the current. how slowly it appeared to move! what a sluggish stream! what effect will the sergeant stepping aside have on the condemned man? a) it will give the man a chance to escape. b) it will mean that the man has been pardoned. c) it will cause the plank to tilt, hanging the man. d) it will signal that the execution is about to begin.

He leaned his head against the wall; his eyes were shut, his hands clasped in each other, and his body seemed to be sustained in an upright position merely by the cellar-door against which he rested his left shoulder. the lethargy into which he was sunk seemed scarcely interrupted by my feeling his hand and his forehead. his throbbing temples and burning skin indicated a fever . . there was only one circumstance that hindered me from forming an immediate determination in what manner this person should be treated. my family consisted of my wife and a young child. our servant-maid had been seized, three days before, by the reigning malady, and, at her own request, had been conveyed to the hospital. we ourselves enjoyed good health, and were hopeful of escaping with our lives. our measures for this end had been cautiously taken and carefully adhered to. they did not consist in avoiding the receptacles of infection, for my office required me to go daily into the midst of them; nor in filling the house with the exhalations of gunpowder, vinegar, or tar. they consisted in cleanliness, reasonable exercise, and wholesome diet. who is the story’s first-person narrator

Read the excerpt from hemingway’s a farewell to arms. we parked the cars beyond the brickyard. the ovens and some deep holes had been equipped as dressing stations. there were three doctors that i knew. i talked with the major and learned that when it should start and our cars should be loaded we would drive them back along the screened road and up to the main road along the ridge where there would be a post and other cars to clear them. which best describes hemingway’s style of writing in the excerpt? straightforward and simple, while still relating a lot of information to the reader long-winded and offering far too much information to the reader overly complicated, making it difficult to interpret and understand the text effortless and uncomplicated, with little meaning for the reader to interpret

Read this excerpt from "herd about the flu." the flu shot prevent huge numbers of infections. even when it doesn't fully prevent infection in every person, the shot makes any flu infection less serious. on a global scale, the vaccine can reduce the number of infections only if most people in the community take it. that's because vaccines need to reach enough people to achieve a "herd immunity," the level of immunity needed to prevent the virus from spreading. if too few people get the vaccine, the people who receive it may not be well protected against infection. so the next time you are at the drugstore, and you see no flu shots available, think about the reasons behind it. drug makers are scared to make too many flu shots because they could lose too much money. they then make fewer flu shots and the effect of the flu shots becomes weaker because not enough people take it. people become more reluctant to take the flu shot since they don't think it will fully work. the demand goes down further and the flu companies make even fewer shots the next year. this could continue until the community changes its mind and we all get the flu shot. "that is a community responsibility," says the president of merck, one of the two remaining flu vaccine manufacturers. which argument best supports the passage's claim that more people should get the flu vaccine to stop the virus from spreading? 1.if too few people get the vaccine, the people who receive it may not be well protected against infection 2. so the next time you are at the drugstore, and you see no flu shots available, think about the reasons behind it. 3.people become more reluctant to take the flu shot since they don’t think it will fully work. 4.drug makers are scared to make too many flu shots because they could lose too much money.