Part A Which claim does President Obama make in excerpt from "President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address"?

The United States needs to better prepare for the twenty-first century.

US citizens play a critical role in strengthening the state of the union.

The country has the highest unemployment rate in five years.

Average wages have gone up in recent years and lessened inequality.
Question 2
Part B

Which evidence is most relevant to supporting the answer to Part A?

"Today in America, a teacher spent extra time with a student who needed it and did her part to lift America's graduation rate to its highest levels in more than three decades."

"As president, I'm committed to making Washington work better, and rebuilding the trust of the people who sent us here. And I believe most of you are, too."

"And for the first time in over a decade, business leaders around the world have declared that China is no longer the world's number one place to invest; America is."

"The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by—let alone to get ahead. And too many still aren't working at all."

(20 points) passage: this year will be a record-breaking year for storms 1it looks like 2012 will be a year for the record books. thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes have increased across the country. the storms' high winds and heavy rains are making history. early tornado and hurricane seasons 2in march, not usually a busy month for tornadoes, the south and midwest had a large number of twisters. warm weather made conditions ripe for the creation of tornadoes. on some days, twisters dropped from the sky by the dozen. 3hurricane season also came early. two tropical storms hit the southeast in may. two more strong storms followed in june. severe thunderstorms 4many states that have escaped tornadoes and hurricanes have had severe thunderstorms. these giant storms dumped several inches of rain and caused flooding across the northeast and midwest. 5the end of hurricane season is months away, and this year's storm count and rainfall amounts could leave 2011 in the dust. forecasters say the wet, windy weather might stick around until fall. labor day parade rained out 6there is no joy in green town, where the annual labor day parade was called off because of heavy rain. the town's mayor says the parade hasn't been rained out in fifty years. 7a strong band of thunderstorms hit green town on sunday. more than two inches of rain fell each hour. by monday morning, main street looked more like a creek than a parade route. mayor nora bell said she had to call off the parade. "the heavy rains have created a serious safety issue in green town," she said. 8the loss of the labor day parade is green town's second disappointment this summer. in may, the memorial day parade was also called off because of rain. "this must be one of the wettest summers in history," mayor bell said. 9according to the national weather service, mayor bell is right. this summer will break rainfall records in green town and across the country. question: who would obtain the most useful information from the passage? a) someone planning a holiday picnic. b) someone interested in documenting annual meteorological patterns. c) an advocate for the green town labor day parade. d) someone who wishes to do research on the alleged truth of the "global warming" phenomenon.