Read the following excerpts: Excerpt from My Antonia, by Willa Cather

Sometimes I went south to visit our German neighbors and to admire their catalpa grove, or to see the big elm tree that grew up out of a deep crack in the earth and had a hawk's nest in its branches.

Excerpt from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

North of the house, inside the ploughed fire-breaks, grew a thick-set strip of box-elder trees, low and bushy, their leaves already turning yellow…

What might be the shared theme of these excerpts?

the beauty of nature

the importance of neighbors

the values of farm life

the simplicity of animals

Read the passage: canines may not be the deepest thinkers in the world. but perhaps that's for the best. the life of a dog—sitting alone all day, waiting for everyone to come home—can be pretty boring. super-smart animals would probably get totally stressed out, says university of pennsylvania researcher james serpell. look at it this way: if dogs were any smarter, they probably wouldn't choose to hang around with us. which best describes the tone of the passage?

What argument does thomas jefferson make in this excerpt from the declaration of independence? we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.-that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. a. b. c. the american colonists desire a more peaceful alliance with great britain but their british counterparts do not. the american colonists have a right to seek freedom from great britain due to the continued oppression of their basic rights. the american colonies could form a better government than the one established by great britain to govern them. the king of britain and the members of british parliament have little interest in the welfare of the colonies. od. e. the american colonies should have sufficient representation in british parliament if america and great britain are to coexist peacefully.

To meet the needs of commuters in the industrial age, city planners implemented the use of phonographs. provided more horses and carriages. borrowed technology from railroads. constructed new telephone lines.