What does the author mean by the following statement: “this is a nation founded on a conundrum, what mario cuomo has characterized as 'community added to individualism.' these two are our defining ideals; they are also in constant conflict.”
a) each person is valued for who they are as an individual first; this is a problem because no matter what culture a person is from, they should identify themselves as americans first.
b) america forces its people to join together, no matter their culture or background; this is an issue because a person’s individual values are viewed as not as unimportant when compared to the values of american culture as a whole.
c) america is one nation made up of so many diverse cultures, each with their own sense of identity. while this freedom is what america is based on, it could prevent americans from joining together.

The correct answer is C. America is one nation made up of so many diverse cultures, each with their own sense of identity. While this freedom is what America is based on, it could prevent Americans from joining together.

Thus, the United States as a nation can be defined as a "melting pot", that is, a society created based on the diversity of its members, who with their different cultures and values are forming a unifying national macroculture of all the components of said melting pot.

But, in turn, the American nation itself is based on the concept of freedom as a fundamental pillar of society, which in a certain way allows many people not to decide to adopt the unifying American macroculture, but to maintain their own culture based on this freedom.  

This ultimately leads to the formation of consolidated minorities and, many times, these clash with the majority society in cultural terms.

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active voice: my father cut the tree.

passive voice: the tree was cut by my father.

active voice: people buy newspapers every day.

passive voice: newspapers are bought (by people) every day.

active voice: people have been using movies as political propaganda since world war ii.

passive voice: movies have been used as political propaganda since world war ii.

active voice: donna gave me my birthday present.

passive voice: i was given my birthday present (by donna). / my birthday present was given to me (by donna).

active voice: mom will leave the keys on the counter.

passive voice: the keys will be left (by mom) on the counter.

the words in parentheses are the agent of the passive voice and can be omitted when obvious, generic, or simply unnecessary.

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