Question

basketball blues
raquel lindell
looking at the hard, plaster cast that extended from her hand to her shoulder, jillian groaned for the billionth time. she couldnt believe that —in a split second—she had broken her arm in two places and had ruined her chances of becoming the leading scorer on the girls varsity basketball team. she thought back to the moment that had led to her current situation. what seemed at the time as a snappy solution quickly snowballed into a catastrophe. jillian sat on her bedroom floor organizing notebooks, folders, and textbooks. she had designated a color to each class—yellow for accelerated geometry, green for chemistry i, orange for american government, and so on. jillian always joked that she was only good at two things: organization and basketball. jillian’s mother even teased her daughter about the military precision with which she performed everyday tasks such as making her bed and ironing her clothes. “a place for everything and everything in its place,” jillian always said. in her bedroom, that meant books on the bookshelf, clothes in the closet, and blankets neatly tucked beneath the corners of her mattress. on the basketball court, that meant jillian poised to make a free throw or a three-pointer at the buzzer.

which sentence from the passage best supports the theme that people can contribute to teamwork in a variety of ways?
a) jillian sat on her bedroom floor organizing notebooks, folders, and textbooks. she had designated a color to each class—yellow for accelerated geometry, green for chemistry i, orange for american government, and so on.
b) she grabbed a new bulb and rolled her desk chair under the light. she unscrewed the old bulb and replaced it with a new one.
c) coach tried to sound supportive and encouraging, but jillian knew that in her mind she was already reworking the entire offense of the team without one of her star athletes.
d) jillian was so focused that she didnt notice coach muenster studying the impressive notes over her shoulder.

Explanation:

To determine which sentence supports the theme of teamwork, we analyze each option:

• Option A: Describes Jillian organizing her school materials, which is about personal organization, not teamwork.
• Option B: Details Jillian changing a light bulb, a personal task, not related to teamwork.
• Option C: Shows Coach trying to be supportive, but Jillian already reworked the team's offense without a star athlete. This implies she adjusted the team's strategy to function without a key player, highlighting teamwork (adapting for the team's success).
• Option D: Focuses on Jillian studying and not noticing the coach, which is about her focus, not teamwork.

Answer:

C. Coach tried to sound supportive and encouraging, but Jillian knew that in her mind she was already reworking the entire offense of the team without one of her star athletes.