(apex) read this passage from "harrison bergeron" by kurt vonnegut jr.: "it was tragic, all right, but george and hazel couldn't think about it very hard. hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. and george, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little metal handicap radio in his ear. he was required by law to wear it at all times. it was tuned to a government transmitter. every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like george from taking unfair advantage of their brain" which two ideas does the passage most clearly develop? a) the inability to concentrate on difficult things; the government's insistence that nobody has an advantage over another. b) the appreciation of freedom after it is taken away; understanding the challenged by walking in their shoes. c) the intrusion of government in people's lives; the differing opinions of what makes everyone equal. d) the benefits of an authoritarian government; the idea that being "average" is unacceptable.

Which lines in this excerpt from act ii of william shakespeare’s romeo and juliet reveal that mercutio thinks romeo would be better off if he stopped thinking about love? mercutio: i will bite thee by the ear for that jest. romeo: nay, good goose, bite not. mercutio: thy wit is a very bitter sweeting it is a most sharp sauce. romeo: and is it not well served in to a sweet goose? mercutio: o here's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch narrow to an ell broad! romeo: i stretch it out for that word 'broad; ' which added to the goose, proves thee far and wide a broad goose. mercutio: why, is not this better now than groaning for love? now art thou sociable, now art thou romeo; now art thou what thou art, by art as well as by nature: for this drivelling love is like a great natural, that runs lolling up and down to hide his bauble in a hole. benvolio: stop there, stop there. mercutio: thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair. benvolio: thou wouldst else have made thy tale large. mercutio: o, thou art deceived; i would have made it short: for i was come to the whole depth of my tale; and meant, indeed, to occupy the argument no longer.