Many people are intimidated by the idea of making new friends, but the process can be as simple as following a few steps. First, identify someone you enjoy being around, and whenever you have the chance, make sure to reach out to him or her. Smile, make eye contact, and talk about topics that interest both of you. If you both enjoy an activity, try to find opportunities to do it together. Once you have started getting to know each other, invite your new friend to a casual get-together or group activity. Pretty soon, you'll be enjoying the benefits of a brand-new friendship. Which statement best describes the theme or author's purpose of this text? A. The theme of the text is that the way to make new friends is to reach out and be outgoing. B. The author's purpose is to entertain readers by telling a story about friendship. C. The theme of the text is that loyalty is the most important quality a friend can have. D. The author's purpose is to inform readers about how to make new friends.

Read the excerpt from cristina garcia’s dreaming in cuban. i don’t really want to talk about my father but i end up telling minnie how he used to take me horseback riding on our ranch, strapping me in his saddle with a leather seat belt he designed just for me. dad’s family owned casinos in cuba, and had one of the largest ranches on the island. there were beef cattle and dairy cows, horses, pigs, goats, and lambs. dad fed them molasses to fatten them, and gave the chickens corn and sorghum until they laid vermilion eggs, rich with vitamins. he took me on an overnight inspection once. we camped out under a sapodilla tree and listened to the pygmy owls with their old women’s voices. my father knew i understood more than i could say. he told me stories about cuba after columbus came. he said that the spaniards wiped out more indians with smallpox than with muskets. how does the structure of the excerpt add meaning to the passage? it includes historical information about the spaniards and indians to indicate the work is nonfiction. it describes the setting of the ranch owned by pilar’s cuban grandparents to explain family values. it uses several narrators to share their points of view about past and present life in cuba. it manipulates the chronological order of events to reveal the close relationship between pilar and her father.