Question

neal was so excited. his high school was having a bake - off, and the owners of a local cupcake shop were going to judge. neal had always had a knack for cooking and baking, and he was pretty sure he could win this contest. hed perfected his classic vanilla cupcake recipe. on the way to biology class, he asked his friend liza what she was baking for the contest. \im going to make my grandmothers red velvet cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting and cinnamon,\ liza replied. neal groaned. lizas cupcakes sounded so much more creative. suddenly, his simple vanilla cupcakes seemed lame. determined to impress the judges, neal changed his cupcake recipe. he added a marshmallow filling to each cupcake. to liven up his buttercream frosting, he added purple food dye, lavender oil, and licorice extract. the cupcakes still looked boring, so he garnished them with gold dust, rice paper birds, and edible flower petals. in spite of all these adventurous touches, his cupcakes turned out lopsided and goopy, and the frosting tasted strongly like licorice. but he was sure the cupcake judges would look highly on how fancy his cupcakes were. neal could hardly wait for the contest results to be posted after school. but when he saw the list on the wall, his mouth fell open. he didnt win any prizes, not even as a runner - up. and first place had gone to one of his classmates, drew feldman. the description by drews cupcakes read, \classic vanilla.\ which of the following best describes the main theme or lesson of the story? always challenge yourself to go outside your comfort zone and try something new. its often better to do a good job on something simple than attempt too many things at once. even when you work hard at something, you might fail a number of times before you succeed.

Explanation:

Neal started with a simple vanilla cupcake recipe he was good at. When he heard Liza's more creative - sounding recipe, he over - complicated his own. His over - decorated and overly flavored cupcakes turned out poorly, while a classmate won with classic vanilla cupcakes. This shows it's better to do a good job on something simple than over - complicate.

Answer:

It's often better to do a good job on something simple than attempt too many things at once.