Question

booker t. washington was a prominent african - american educator, leader, and orator in the period after the civil war. in 1891, he founded the tuskegee institute (now known as tuskegee university), which focused on training african americans in agricultural pursuits. this autobiographical excerpt is from his account of the creation, development, and promotion of the tuskegee institute.

1. i shall long remember the time when the folly and uselessness of much of the old - time method of teaching first dawned upon me. i was teaching a country school near my old home in west virginia. this school was located near a piece of land that was wet and marshy, but nevertheless beautiful in appearance. it was june and the day was hot and sultry, when the usual recess or playtime came, i was as anxious as the children were to get outside of the close and stuffy school room into the open air. that day i prolonged the playtime to more than twice the usual period.
2. the hour previous to recess had been employed by me in trying to get a class of children interested in what proved to be a rather stupid geography lesson. i had been asking my pupils a lot of dull and tiresome questions, getting them to define questions, getting them to define capes, peninsulas, islands, and so forth...
3. as soon as the children were out of doors at playtime, however, they all, as if by common instinct, scampered off into the marshes. in a few seconds, they were wading in the cool water, jumping about in the fragrant grass, and enjoying themselves in a way that was in striking contrast to the dull labour of the geography lesson. i soon became infected with the general fever, and in a few minutes i found myself following the children at a rapid rate and entering into the full enjoyment of the contrast between the dull, dead atmosphere of the school room and the vivid tingling sense of the living out - doors.

part b:
which sentence from the text best supports your answer in part a?
a. it was june and the day was hot and sultry, when the usual recess or playtime came, i was as anxious as the children were to get outside of the close and stuffy school room into the open air.
b. the hour previous to recess had been employed by me in trying to get a class of children interested in what proved to be a rather stupid geography lesson.
c. we had not been out of the school house and away from the old geography lesson long before one of the boys who had been among the dullest in his recitation in the school room became the leader of a sort of exploring party.
d. this time, however, we found a real joy and zest in the work, and i think both teacher and pupils learned more geography in that short period than they ever learned in the same space of time before or since.

Explanation:

To answer Part B, we need to find the sentence that supports the idea related to the main - point in Part A (not shown here but we can analyze the options). Option D shows that students learned more geography in a short outdoor period than in the same amount of time indoors, which implies a critique of traditional indoor - based education methods.

Answer:

D. This time, however, we found a real joy and zest in the work, and I think both teacher and pupils learned more geography in that short period than they ever learned in the same space of time before or since.