Question

an explosive start
born to a minnesota farm family in 1911 mitchell wasnt a stranger to hard work. mitchells father died while he was still in elementary school, so mitchell harvested peas and beans for area farmers to help supplement the family income. by the time he was a teenager, mitchells family had relocated to lamar, colorado, where he earned money by trapping muskrats and harvesting melons. during high school, mitchell worked on an overnight shift operating the sugar crystallization tanks at the american beet sugar company, and after his shift, he frequently caught a scant two hours of sleep before classes began. mitchell worked as a carpenter to pay his way through cotner college in lincoln, nebraska. he went on to earn a masters degree in chemistry from the university of nebraska, then stepped into a research chemist role at the agricultural experiment station in lincoln. not long after he started working there, a laboratory explosion (from heating a cracked beaker of alcohol) left him with second - and third - degree burns over 80 percent of his body.
after months of recovery, he returned to the lab, this time as a research chemist at general foods corp. in white plains, new york, where he would spend the next 35 years inventing one unique convenience food after another.
question 2
2 write: what is the main idea of \an explosive start\?
complete the sentence starter in the space below:
mitchells early life was difficult because

Explanation:

The text details Mitchell's early - life struggles like family hardships, multiple jobs to support himself and his family, and an accident in his research career.

Answer:

The main idea of "An Explosive Start" is that Mitchell faced many challenges in his early life including family loss, difficult work to earn money, and a serious laboratory accident, yet he persevered in his career as a research chemist. Mitchell's early life was difficult because his father died when he was young, he had to work multiple jobs to help his family and pay for his education, and he suffered a severe laboratory explosion.