And so gogol's formal education begins. at the top of sheets of scratchy pale yellow paper he writes out his pet name again and again, and the alphabet in capitals and lowercase. he learns to add and subtract, and to spell his first words. in the front covers of the textbooks from which he is taught to read he leaves his legacy, writing his name in number-two pencil below a series of others. which central idea of the passage is established in this excerpt? children are unable to adapt to cultural differences. adults adapt more easily to cultural differences than children do. adults are unable to adapt to cultural differences. children adapt more easily to cultural differences than adults do.