On september 2, 2013, diana nyad realized her goal of becoming the first person to swim from cuba to florida without a shark cage. it was nyad’s fifth attempt at the record but her first successful swim. nyad fought exhaustion, jellyfish, and seasickness—not to mention the threat of sharks—to complete her historic 103-mile swim.
nyad first got the idea to swim between cuba and florida while on a family vacation to cuba in the 1950s. she looked across the straits of florida and wondered to her mother whether anyone had ever tried to swim across it.
nyad’s first attempt at completing the swim occurred in 1978. at the time, she was 29 years old. raging seas caused nyad to become exhausted and delirious. she also suffered attacks from jellyfish. a jellyfish sting causes toxins to course through a victim’s body, creating a sensation like that of a burn. nyad experienced partial paralysis from the stings and had problems breathing. in the end, she had to abandon her first attempt less than halfway through the swim.
all four of her remaining attempts occurred after nyad turned 60 years old. in 2011, during the swimmer’s second attempt at the record, she suffered an 11-hour-long asthma attack that forced her to abandon her plan. during her third attempt the very next month, jellyfish repeatedly stung nyad. she had to put a halt to the swim.
in 2012, nyad attempted the record for a fourth time. once again, jellyfish were a problem for the swimmer. despite wearing a special suit to ward off stings, nyad was attacked on her lips, a place on her body that remained exposed. she also had sharks circling beneath her and was thrown off course by a storm that passed over while she swam. though disappointed, nyad was forced to abandon the swim once again.
after four failed attempts by nyad, many people were skeptical of her ability to swim across the straits of florida. nonetheless, nyad never gave up. in 2013, she made her fifth and last attempt. this time she took special precautions to avoid some of the difficulties she’d faced during previous attempts. to prevent jellyfish from stinging her, for example, nyad wore a special mask and surgical gloves. her 35-member team, which sailed alongside her in two boats, also keep jellyfish—and sharks—away from the swimmer. team members monitored nyad’s health and provided her with food during the swim, as they had done during previous attempts.
despite nyad’s precautions and the she received from her team, the swimmer still had plenty of challenges to contend with. nyad faced strong winds and sunburn during the swim. she also became sick from swallowing salt water.
nonetheless, after 53 long hours of swimming, the 64-year-old nyad emerged from the water in florida, successful at last. though exhausted, nyad was happy and proud of her achievement.
which of the following statements is a central idea of the text?
a.
some goals require overcoming many challenges.
b.
jellyfish stings are very painful.
c.
swimming is a dangerous activity.
d.
breaking a record is the only reason to try new things.

What can you infer about gregor from this excerpt? a. he is ungrateful and refuses to eat all of the food that grete brings for him b. his appetite is good, which shows that his body is trying to return to human form c. he always eats trash, and grete is trying to get him to remember being human d. his eating habits are changing, and he is becoming physically less human

Preparing for a group discussion the first step in participating in a group discussion is to understand the purpose and process of a group discussion. your approach to a group discussion will differ from other assignments, such as writing a research paper. read through the discussion guidelines to understand how you should prepare for a group discussion assignment. your discussion process for this task, you’ll need to work as part of a group of three or four students who can meet together for a face-to-face or virtual discussion. your teacher will identify a process for this task that fits your learning situation. for instance, if you’re working primarily on your own in this course with no on-site classmates (self-paced course), the process will be a little different than if you are learning with at least two other students in the same building and on the same schedule (group-paced course). discussions in those two cases are outlined below. group-paced course the teacher organizes groups or enables students to self-organize. in the discussion session, students take turns presenting their thesis and then discussing each thesis with the group. one student (not the presenter) acts as a discussion facilitator. the discussion will be a round-robin, rotating the presenter and facilitator roles for each thesis. plan to spend at least 15 minutes to present and discuss each thesis. refer to the discussion summary below. you will want to take brief notes during the discussion so that you can easily complete the discussion summary afterwards. self-paced course you will find at least two people to participate in this discussion with you. they could be classmates from other courses, friends, or siblings. they should be roughly your age, if possible, so you can have a thoughtful discussion with peers. you will set a time and place for the discussion and share the discussion guidelines for them to read prior to the discussion. you will be the only presenter for this discussion. you will also play the role of facilitator. you will present your thesis and then discuss it with your group. your invited group members are only required to be active, thinking participants. except for reading through the discussion guidelines ahead of time, they do not have to prepare for the discussion beforehand or do any follow-up afterwards. since you will be presenting and facilitating during the discussion, you may want to ask one of the participants to take brief notes for you on key points that come up during the discussion. these notes will you compose your discussion summary below. since there is only one thesis to discuss, plan to spend at least 30 minutes presenting and discussing your thesis. here is an outline of the whole process for this task: 1. you will formulate a thesis and outline a set of points that support your thesis. this may include some initial research. 2. depending upon your learning situation, you may need to organize the discussion group, place, and time. 3. read the discussion guidelines for how to conduct, facilitate, or participate constructively in a discussion with your peers. 4. the group meets to discuss the theses for your learning situation: the discussions should be fair, democratic, and orderly. each member of the group should have an opportunity to express their views; all members should actively contribute to the discussion. group members should show respect for others' views and make their points politely. the goal of the discussion is to gather opposing viewpoints and additional perspectives that would support or oppose your thesis. each participant should come to the discussion prepared to the presenter deepen the understanding of the topic. 5. after you've discussed your thesis, you will complete the discussion summary section below and submit it to your teacher. leading a discussion be sure that all the participants have read the discussion guidelines before beginning your discussion. with three or four peers, start the discussion by presenting your thoughts and findings from your research. present a question to the group to begin the discussion. allow your group to ask you follow-up questions. using an audio recording tool, record the questions your team asks as well as your response to these questions. finally, consider how the discussion changed or influenced your initial research and thoughts about the discussion questions. you will submit your responses to the questions asked in the discussion summary. use your notes from your research and your discussion to you complete the summary. discussion summary part a using an audio recording tool, record the names of the discussion participants below. if you organized the discussion, using an audio recording tool, record how you know each person and summarize how you chose and invited the participants and how you organized the time and place for the discussion.

Who is the speaker? read the quotations and answer the questions for each quote. quotation analysis "those who labor in the earth are the chosen people of " what is the main idea of the quotation? who do you think is the speaker? what evidence from the background reading leads you to the conclusion about the speaker? 2. "all communities divide themselves into the few and the many. the first are rich and well born, the other the mass of the people…" what is the main idea of the quotation? they divided the people in between rich and poor who do you think is the speaker? hamilton what evidence from the background reading leads you to the conclusion about the speaker? federalists believed that the country should be ruled by the by the best people 3. "laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should, therefore, be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense." what is the main idea of the quotation? who do you think is the speaker? what evidence from the background reading leads you to the conclusion about the speaker? 4. "a fondness for power is implanted in most men, and it is natural to abuse it when acquired." what is the main idea of the quotation? who do you think is the speaker? what evidence from the background reading leads you to the conclusion about the speaker?