A black hole isn't a monster. It's not even alive. That means it can't lurk, eat, or belch. It has no dark, destructive desires.

Of course, you may have already figured this out. But you know what else?

A black hole is NOT a hole—
at Least not the kind you can
dig in the ground
or poke your finger through.
You can't just walk along
and fall into one.
A black hole isn't a hole
like that.

—A Black Hole Is NOT a Hole,
Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano

In this part of the introduction, what question does the author indicate she will answer in the text?

A. Where can black holes be found?
B. What kind of a "hole" is a black hole?
C. How big is a black hole?
D. Why are people afraid of black holes?

Read the excerpt from "mother tongue." lately, i’ve been giving more thought to the kind of english my mother speaks. like others, i have described it to people as “broken” or “fractured” english. but i wince when i say that. it has always bothered me that i can think of no other way to describe it other than “broken,” as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. what best supports the inference that tan believes nonstandard english is no less valid than standard english? tan spends a lot of time thinking about her mother’s “fractured” english. tan has trouble thinking of descriptive words when she is writing. tan’s american education makes it difficult for her to understand her mother. tan winces when she describes her mother’s english as “broken.”