Which statement best explains how word choice supports the author’s perspective?

a. the irony of the phrase contrary instincts supports the author’s perspective.

b. repetition reinforces the perspective that women have a variety of life choices.

c. the negative connotations of thwarted and pulled asunder reinforce the idea that women face discrimination.

d. the connotation of the word gifted supports the author’s perspective that women have greater skills than men.

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 to the slave is the fourth of july? by frederick douglass fellow-citizens—pardon me, and allow me to ask, why am i called upon to speak here to-day? what have i, or those i represent, to do with your national independence? are the great principles of political freedom and of natural justice, embodied in that declaration of independence, extended to us? and am i, therefore, called upon to bring our humble offering to the national altar, and to confess the benefits, and express devout gratitude for the blessings, resulting from your independence to us? but, such is not the state of the case. i say it with a sad sense of the disparity between us. i am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. the blessings in which you this day rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. the rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity, and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. the sunlight that brought life and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. this fourth of july is yours, not mine. you may rejoice, i must mourn. to drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony. do you mean, citizens, to mock me, by asking me to speak to-day? fellow-citizens, above your national, tumultuous joy, i hear the mournful wail of millions, whose chains, heavy and grievous yesterday, are to-day rendered more intolerable by the jubilant shouts that reach them. if i do forget, if i do not faithfully remember those bleeding children of sorrow this day, "may my right hand forget her cunning, and may my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth! " to forget them, to pass lightly over their wrongs, and to chime in with the popular theme, would be treason most scandalous and shocking, and would make me a reproach before god and the world. my subject, then, fellow-citizens, is american slavery. i shall see this day and its popular characteristics from the slave's point of view. standing there, identified with the american bondman, making his wrongs mine, i do not hesitate to declare, with all my soul, that the character and conduct of this nation never looked blacker to me than on this fourth of july. whether we turn to the declarations of the past, or to the professions of the present, the conduct of the nation seems equally hideous and revolting. what is one of the lessons douglass impresses on his listeners? a) the nation should not rejoice until everyone has freedom. b) he must speak on the fourth of july in order to bring change. c) for him to join the celebration would be treason. d) he can see the perspective of slaves and citizens with equal clarity.

Me 31) what is the best definition of the word ventured as it is used in the final sentence of paragraph 1? with high hope for the future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. a) desired b) c) justified d) risked 32) with malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as god gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations. lincoln uses the last paragraph of his speech a) to emphasize the atrocities of war. b) to show his concern for all nations. c) to ask for more support for the war. d) to describe his visions for the nation's rebirth. 33) now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. which is the best definition for expiration as it is used in the selected sentence? a) emission of breath b) ceasing to be in effect c) the act of breathing out d) the emission of volatile matter from the earth's atmosphere 34) the almighty has his own purposes. ‘woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.’ what is the meaning of the word offenses as used in the first line of the fifth paragraph? a) breaking the law b) attack or assault c) causing injury, causing harm or hurt d) sin; wrongdoing against someone else