Question

read the excerpt from \a genetics of justice\ by julia alvarez.
my mother, especially, lived in terror of the consequences of living as free citizens. in new york city, before trujillo was killed, dominican exiles gathered around the young revolutionary juan bosch planning an invasion of the island. every time my father attended these meetings, my mother would get hysterical. if the sim found out about my father’s activities, family members remaining behind were likely to be in danger. even our own family in new york could suffer consequences. five years earlier, in 1955, galíndez, an exile anti-trujillo teaching at columbia university, had disappeared from a new york subway. the same thing could happen to us.
i don’t know if my father complied or just got too busy trying to make a living in this country. but after a few months of hotheaded attendance, he dropped out of
which statement best analyzes how the author develops the central idea across the paragraphs?
○ alvarez explains that her parents often disagreed about how to react to the dictatorship now that they were living in a free country.
○ alvarez explains how her father became heavily involved in anti-trujillo activities, but soon became too busy to participate in them.
○ alvarez explains how her mother eventually convinced her father to stop attending political meetings because of the danger.
○ alvarez explains that, although her parents reacted differently to the stress they endured, both became silent about the dictatorship.

Explanation:

1. Analyze Option 1: The excerpt focuses on the mother's fear and father's political activities, not parental disagreements on reacting to dictatorship in a free country. Eliminate.
2. Analyze Option 2: The excerpt says the father dropped out of meetings (reason unclear: compliance or busyness), not that he became busy after being involved. The mother's reaction is fear, not convincing. Eliminate.
3. Analyze Option 3: The mother was in terror of consequences, but there's no mention of her convincing the father. The father's dropping out is unclear. Eliminate.
4. Analyze Option 4: The mother lived in terror (reacted with fear), the father attended meetings then dropped out (maybe silent later). The central idea involves their different reactions to the stress of the dictatorship and eventual silence (father stops attending, mother's fear implies caution/silence). This matches.

Answer:

C. Alvarez explains how her mother eventually convinced her father to stop attending political meetings because of the danger. (Wait, correction: The correct option is the fourth one. Let's recheck. The fourth option: "Alvarez explains that, although her parents reacted differently to the stress they endured, both became silent about the dictatorship." The mother was in terror (stress reaction: fear), father attended meetings then dropped out (maybe silent). The other options are incorrect. So the correct option is the fourth one. Let's present it properly:

The correct option is: Alvarez explains that, although her parents reacted differently to the stress they endured, both became silent about the dictatorship. (The option with this text, let's assume it's option D or the fourth circle. So in the format, we need to present the option as per the question's options. Let's check the options again:

Option 1: Alvarez explains that her parents often disagreed about how to react to the dictatorship now that they were living in a free country. – Incorrect.

Option 2: Alvarez explains how her father became heavily involved in anti - Trujillo activities, but soon became too busy to participate in them. – Incorrect (father's reason for stopping is unclear, not "too busy" as per excerpt).

Option 3: Alvarez explains how her mother eventually convinced her father to stop attending political meetings because of the danger. – Incorrect (no mention of mother convincing).

Option 4: Alvarez explains that, although her parents reacted differently to the stress they endured, both became silent about the dictatorship. – Correct.

So the answer is the fourth option (let's assume the options are numbered as 1 - 4, so 4. Alvarez explains that, although her parents reacted differently to the stress they endured, both became silent about the dictatorship.)