Question

read the excerpt from \a genetics of justice\ by julia alvarez.
by the time my mother married my father, however, she knew all about the true nature of the dictatorship. thousands had lost their lives in failed attempts to return the country to democracy. family friends, whom she had assumed had dropped away of their own accord, turned out to have been disappeared. my father had been lucky. as a young man, he had narrowly escaped to canada after the plot he had participated in as a student failed. this was to be the first of two escapes. that same year, 1937, el generalísimo ordered the overnight slaughter of some eighteen thousand haitians, who had come across the border to work on sugarcane plantations for slave wages.
what is the central idea of this excerpt?
○ the dictatorship resulted in many deaths.
○ it was possible for people to escape to canada.
○ many people fought for a democratic nation.
○ the author’s family was unusually lucky.

Explanation:

To find the central idea, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: The excerpt mentions "Thousands had lost their lives...", "eighteen thousand Haitians...slaughter", and the father's lucky escape. The focus on deaths due to the dictatorship aligns.
• Option 2: The father escaping to Canada is a detail, not the central idea.
• Option 3: The excerpt says attempts to return to democracy failed, with no emphasis on people fighting.
• Option 4: The family's luck (father's escapes) is a detail, not the main point.

Answer:

A. The dictatorship resulted in many deaths.