Which statement describes the theme of the poem? A. Everything in nature comes from the same place. B. Some things in nature are stronger than others. C. Nature is constantly interacting with itself. D. Nature can be both strong and gentle.

The theme of the poem is:

A. Everything in nature comes from the same place.

Explanation:

"Wind, Water, Stone" is a poem by Octavio Paz. The speaker describes several ways in which the three elements mentioned in the title interact and, in some ways, even become one another. The poem plays with the idea that the different elements are able to influence each other, change each other, and change themselves. What the speaker means is that they are all the same thing: they are all nature. There is no distinction between them in the end. That is what the last stanza shows:

Each is another and no other:

crossing and vanishing

thought their empty names:

water, stone, wind.

Their names are empty because they mean nothing. There is no reason to call stone stone or water water because there is no distinction between them.

21 balloons is the story of professor william sherman's travels.

in 1883, he set off from san francisco for a balloon ride over the pacific and was found a month later floating with 21 balloons in the atlantic ocean. this seemed an astounding feat and everyone wanted to know what had happened.    

professor sherman was loyal, however, and said he would tell his tale first to the western american explorers club in san francisco, of which he was a member. this built up suspense for several chapters before he began to tell of the wonders of his adventures and the amazing island of krakatoa, an island which had just been blown up by a volcano.  

the residents of krakatoa are all millionaires who live under a "gourmet government" of their own devising. we get to see all the incredible adventures that creative people with unlimited resources would create according to the author.