Read the passage. The Dirty Thirties and the Filthy Fifties
The southern Great Plains, an area of the U. S. known for its wheat production, was struck by a severe drought in the early 1930s. Farmers were unable to coax wheat from the parched earth. Huge swaths of plowed land, unanchored by native grasses, were left exposed to the region's strong winds, resulting in years of dust storms that earned the decade the title the Dirty Thirties. Facing poverty and dust inhalation, four hundred thousand people fled the region. Years later, a resurgence of dust storms occurred during another drought. However, the extent of the damage during the Filthy Fifties (as the decade came to be called) offered a contrast to the Dirty Thirties. Not only was the drought shorter, but the land was less vulnerable. In the intervening years, the federal government had restored prairie grasses, while farmers had also applied techniques to prevent soil erosion.
What is the main idea of the passage?

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1. read the following excerpt from franklin d. roosevelt's "fireside chat 19":

on the other side of the picture, we must learn also to know that guerilla warfare against the germans in, let us say serbia or norway, us; that a successful russian offensive against the germans us; and that british successes on land or sea in any part of the world strengthen our hands.

remember always that germany and italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the united states at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with britain or russia. and germany puts all the other republics of the americas into the same category of enemies. the people of our sister republics of this hemisphere can be honored by that fact.  

the true goal we seek is far above and beyond the ugly field of battle. when we resort to force, as now we must, we are determined that this force shall be directed toward ultimate good as well as against immediate evil. we americans are not destroyers — we are builders.

analyze the effectiveness of this excerpt. how does it function within the speech as a whole? how does the structure of the excerpt to convey the speech's purpose and key points? support your argument with evidence from the speech. (10 points)

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