The following is a student draft. it may contain errors. taking to the skies (1) i was flying for the first time. (2) i still had a feeling that i had forgotten something, but after checking and re-checking my bag multiple times, i had to believe i had everything i needed. (3) as the line began to progress forward, i readjusted by backpack and held out my boarding pass for the gate agent to take. (4) she must have noticed my nervousness because she asked if this was my first flight. (5) i told her it was, and she reassured me that everything would be okay. (6) i her, and made my way down the long hallway towards the plane. (7) i was relieved to get to the plane and be greeted by a friendly flight attendant. (8) i stepped on the plane, returned the greeting, and looked around. (9) i made my way through the narrow plane, trying to not hit any of the elbows belonging to passengers who were already seated. (10) i paid close attention to the numbers and letters above each row, looking for my seat, 12b. (11) when i got to my row, there was a pleasant woman with a sincere smile already seated by the window. (12) i immediately felt more at ease. (13) i grabbed my suitcase and lifted it up to place it into the overhead bin. (14) luckily, it fit without a problem. (15) this was one of the things that had made me nervous when i thought about it. (16) i squeezed into my super-tight seat, pushing my overly large backpack under the small seat in front of me. (17) i put on my seat belt. (18) i took a deep breath and tried to relax. (19) the woman next to me, leaned over placing her hand on my arm, and assured me that everything would be okay. (20) i looked toward her, and gave a half smile. (21) i leaned my head back and closed my eyes. (22) here we go. which introductory sentence would be best to add to the passage to make it more engaging to the reader? a. i stood in line waiting for my flight. b. it was going to be a nice day to get on a plane and fly away. c. i stood anxiously waiting, holding my boarding pass tightly in hand. d. the airport was busy, but it didn't matter to me.

Read the passage. excerpt from "why equal pay is worth fighting for" by senator elizabeth warren, april 17, 2014 i honestly can't believe that we're still arguing over equal pay in 2014. when i started teaching elementary school after college, the public school district didn't hide the fact that it had two pay scales: one for men and one for women. women have made incredible strides since then. but 40 years later, we're still debating equal pay for equal work. women today still earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns, and they're taking a hit in nearly every occupation. bloomberg analyzed census data and found that median earnings for women were lower than those for men in 264 of 265 major occupation categories. in 99.6 percent of occupations, men get paid more than women. that's not an accident; that's discrimination. the effects of this discrimination are real, and they are long lasting. today, more young women go to college than men, but unequal pay makes it harder for them to pay back student loans. pay inequality also means a tougher retirement for women. . for middle-class families today, it usually takes two incomes to get by, and many families depend as much on mom's salary as they do on dad's, if not more. women are the main breadwinners, or joint breadwinners, in two-thirds of the families across the country, and pay discrimination makes it that much harder for these families to stay afloat. women are ready to fight back against pay discrimination, but it's not easy. today, a woman can get fired for asking the guy across the hall how much money he makes. here in the senate, sen. barbara mikulski (d-md.) introduced the paycheck fairness act to give women the tools to combat wage discrimination. it would ensure that salary differences have something to do with the actual job that they are doing, and not just because they are women. senator warren states that the effects of pay discrimination are long-lasting. is this a valid argument supported by accurate evidence? no; warren weakens her point by claiming that the paycheck fairness act would "give women the tools to combat wage discrimination." yes; warren supports her point by noting, "for middle-class families today, it usually takes two incomes to get by." yes; warren supports her point by noting, "pay inequality also means a tougher retirement for women." no; warren weakens her point by noting, "today, a woman can get fired for asking the guy across the hall how much money he makes."