On a cold spring afternoon, while walking home from school, i detoured through the playground at the end of our alley. i saw a group of old men, two seated across a folding table playing a game of chess, others smoking pipes, eating peanuts, and watching. i ran home and grabbed vincent’s chess set, which was bound in a cardboard box with rubber bands. i also carefully selected two prized rolls of life savers. i came back to the park and approached a man who was observing the game. “want to play? ” i asked him. his face widened with surprise and he grinned as he looked at the box under my arm. “little sister, been a long time since i play with dolls,” he said, smiling benevolently. i quickly put the box down next to him on the bench and displayed my retort. what motivates the narrator to “display [her] retort” rather than to respond verbally to the man? the goal not to speak a single negative word in thirty days the fear of what the narrator’s mother will do the knowledge that it is dangerous to speak to strangers the desire to master the art of “invisible strength”

Ineed . read the passage, and choose the three (3) inferences that are most firmly based on the given information. your sister has a new boyfriend. the first time you meet him, he corners you and talks to you for an hour about football, a subject in which you have no interest at all. you come away with the impression that he is an inconsiderate bore. the next two times you see him, however, he says not a word about football. he participates in the general conversation and makes some witty and intelligent remarks. what is your impression of him now? do you find him likable and interesting on the basis of the last two encounters? do you average out the early minus and the later plus and come out with a neutral zero? neither is likely. what is likely is that you still think of him as an inconsiderate bore. psychological research suggests that first impressions, as our mothers and fathers told us, are quite lasting. 1. the words “neutral zero” refer to an impression that is positive. 2. the words “neutral zero” refer to an impression that is neither positivenor negative. 3. the selection suggests that it’s a good idea to make good firstimpressions. 4. the selection suggests that it can be difficult to remain objective aboutothers. 5. first impressions tend to be fair and balance