(mc)
read the passage and answer the question that follows:
despite our best efforts as parents, we will always make mistakes in raising our children. it's inevitable. there are so many decisions to be made in any given day, week, month, or year. it's an inhuman task to make all of these decisions correctly. who would even want to try for perfection?
we shouldn't worry too much, though, because it is precisely our mistakes that teach our children the most about life. life is full of mistakes, obstacles, and trouble. shielding our children from these by striving for perfection in our own parenting does them no favors.
given this, a parent might be tempted to give up trying to make good decisions and simply let the chips fall where they may. admittedly, that attitude is not without its benefits, but it goes too far in the other direction. children are much more observant than we think, but often draw the wrong conclusions from what they observe. if we give up trying to make the right decisions, they might get the message that we don't care about their future.
we can take comfort in this much: we teach our children even when we're not trying to. that doesn't mean we should stop trying to do our best, to make the right decisions whenever possible. it just means that we shouldn't beat ourselves up when we make mistakes. either it won't matter because it's something small, or it just might build some character in our children, a commodity that will serve them well.
which of the following does the author do to strengthen his or her argument?
"admittedly, that attitude is not without its benefits, but it goes too far in the other direction."
"it's an inhuman task to make all of these decisions correctly."
"that doesn't mean we should stop trying to do our best, to make the right decisions whenever possible."
"we can take comfort in this much: we teach our children even when we're not trying to."

Memories of a memory have you ever witnessed something amazing, shocking or surprising and found when describing the event that your story seems to change the more you tell it? have you ever experienced a time when you couldn't really describe something you saw in a way that others could understand? if so, you may understand why some experts think eyewitness testimony is unreliable as evidence in scientific inquiries and trials. new insights into human memory suggest human memories are really a mixture of many non-factual things. first, memory is vague. imagine your room at home or a classroom you see every day. most likely, you could describe the room very generally. you could name the color of the walls, the floors, the decorations. but the image you describe will never be as specific or detailed as if you were looking at the actual room. memory tends to save a blurry image of what we have seen rather than specific details. so when a witness tries to identify someone, her brain may recall that the person was tall, but not be able to say how tall when faced with several tall people. there are lots of different kinds of "tall." second, memory uses general knowledge to fill in gaps. our brains reconstruct events and scenes when we remember something. to do this, our brains use other memories and other stories when there are gaps. for example, one day at a library you go to quite frequently, you witness an argument between a library patron and one of the librarians. later, when telling a friend about the event, your brain may remember a familiar librarian behind the desk rather than the actual participant simply because it is recreating a familiar scene. in effect, your brain is combining memories to you tell the story. third, your memory changes over time. it also changes the more you retell the story. documented cases have shown eyewitnesses adding detail to testimony that could not have been known at the time of the event. research has also shown that the more a witness's account is told, the less accurate it is. you may have noticed this yourself. the next time you are retelling a story, notice what you add, or what your brain wants to add, to the account. you may also notice that you drop certain details from previous tellings of the story. with individual memories all jumbled up with each other, it is hard to believe we ever know anything to be true. did you really break your mother's favorite vase when you were three? was that really your father throwing rocks into the river with you when you were seven? the human brain may be quite remarkable indeed. when it comes to memory, however, we may want to start carrying video cameras if we want to record the true picture. part a and part b below contain one fill-in-the-blank to be used for all three question responses. your complete response must be in the format a, b, c including the letter choice, commas, and a space after the commas. part a: which of the following best explains why memories from childhood are unreliable? fill in blank 1 using a, b, or c. our brains add details and general knowledge to childhood memories. our brains are not as reliable as video cameras are. our brains create new stories to make the past more interesting. part b select one quotation from the text that supports your answer to part a. add your selection to blank 1 using e, f, or g. but the image you describe will never be as specific or detailed as if you were looking at the actual room. when a witness tries to identify someone, her brain may recall that the person was tall, but not be able to say how tall. to do this, our brains use other memories and other stories when there are gaps. select one quotation from the text that supports your answer to part a. add your selection to blank 1 using h, i, or j. documented cases have shown eyewitnesses adding detail to testimony that could not have been known at the time of the event. with individual memories all jumbled up with each other, it is hard to believe we ever know anything to be true. when it comes to memory, however, we may want to start carrying video cameras if we want to record the true picture answer for blank 1:

Which quotation best expresses a major theme of this speech? "i saw my evil day at hand. the sun rose dim on us in theo morning, and at night is sunk in a dark cloud, and looked likea ball of fire.""i am much grieved, for i expected, if i did not defeat you, too hold out much longer, and give you more trouble before ! surrendered."m"we went to our great father. we were encouraged. hiso great council gave us fair words and big promises, but wegot no satisfaction.".**we told them to let us alone; but they followed on andbeset our paths, and they coiled themselves among us likethe snake."

Read the excerpt from act 1 of a doll's house. helmer: nora! [goes up to her and takes her playfully by the ear.] the same little featherhead! suppose, now, that i borrowed fifty pounds today, and you spent it all in the christmas week, and then on new year's eve a slate fell on my head and killed me, and— nora: [putting her hands over his mouth]. oh! don't say such horrid things. helmer: still, suppose that happened, —what then? nora: if that were to happen, i don't suppose i should care whether i owed money or not. helmer: yes, but what about the people who had lent it? nora: they? who would bother about them? i should not know who they were. helmer: that is like a woman! but seriously, nora, you know what i think about that. no debt, no borrowing. there can be no freedom or beauty about a home life that depends on borrowing and debt. we two have kept bravely on the straight road so far, and we will go on the same way for the short time longer that there need be any struggle. nora: [moving towards the stove]. as you , torvald. how does the interaction between helmer and nora advance the plot? nora realizes that helmer will completely disapprove of her having borrowed money, so she has to continue to keep it a secret from him. nora realizes that she and helmer have the same ideas about financial issues, and the conversation brings them closer together later in the play. helmer realizes that nora is more responsible with money than he originally thought, and he trusts her more with finances later in the play. nora realizes that helmer knows a lot more about borrowing and lending, and she will seek his input later when she needs it.