Read this excerpt from "are dogs dumb? " by karen hopkin.

chimps can use sign language to talk to their trainers. monkeys can learn to count. a crow can figure out how to use a stick to get at that hard-to-reach grub. chickens can learn to play checkers. even worms can be taught to run mazes. so which animal is the smartest? you're probably thinking that chimps are smarter than chickens. and that crows are smarter than worms. and that you’re smarter than all of them.

what is the author's purpose in this paragraph?

a to argue that bigger animals are smarter than smaller animals

b to give information about animal intelligence

c to explain that humans are the smartest animals of all

d to describe how intelligent chimps are

Stone, two or three feet thick, the door of wood and iron, a foot thick, and the iron grating which strained the light, i could not being struck with the foolishness of that institution which treated me as if i were mere flesh and blood and bones, to be locked up. i wondered that it should have concluded at length that this was the best use it could put me to, and had never thought to avail itself of my services in some way. i saw that, if there was a wall of stone between me and my townsmen, there was a still more difficult one to climb or break through before they could get to be as free as i was. i did not for a moment feel confined, and the walls seemed a great waste of stone and mortar. i felt as if i alone of all my townsmen had paid my tax. — “civil disobedience,” henry david thoreau based on this passage, how did thoreau feel about his confinement?

Read the passage from an argumentative essay. many endangered species are currently threatened by climate change. there are some laws already in place, but are they effective enough? anyone with a conscience knows that these creatures deserve the chance to survive without outside threats impeding their survival. i suppose this is a tough decision for lawmakers, but i hope they choose wisely. which statement best evaluates the claim in the passage?

Fortify is a verb that means “to protect and strengthen.” a fortifications is a that means something that protects.