Write a precis of following paragraph in about 102 words. Several times in the history of the world particular countries and cities or even small groups of people have attained a high degree of civilization. Yet none of these civilizations, important they were, have lasted and one of the reasons why they did not least was that they were confined to a very few people. They were like little oasis of civilization on deserts of barbarism. Now it is no good being civilized if everybody round about you is barbarous, or rather it is some good but it is very risky. For the barbarians are always liable to break in on you, and with their greater numbers and rude vigor scatter your civilization to the winds. Over and over again in history comparatively civilized people dwelling in cities have been conquered in this way by barbarians coming down from the hills and burning and killing and destroying whatever they found in the plains. in the thirteenth century most of Europe was overrun in this way by the Mangols from Central Asia, and such civilization too for beyond its neighbors has always been liable to be set upon and pulled back by the others, just as, if you build a high tower without proper support, it is always liable to fall down to the level of the lower buildings round about it. Now one of the noticeable things about modern civilization, which is also one of the reasons why it is likely to outlast the others, is that is more or less free from this particular danger. And it is free from it, because it is far less local and far more widespread than the other, so widespread indeed that it already covers a large part of the earth.

What do mcmahon’s references to thomas carlyle and john stuart mill do for his own image and credibility?

Select the correct answer. read this excerpt from leo tolstoy's the death of ivan ilyich: her attitude towards him and his diseases is still the same. just as the doctor had adopted a certain relation to his patient which he could not abandon, so had she formed one towards him—that he was not doing something he ought to do and was himself to blame, and that she reproached him lovingly for this—and she could not now change that attitude. "you see he doesn't listen to me and doesn't take his medicine at the proper time. and above all he lies in a position that is no doubt bad for him—with his legs up." she described how he made gerasim hold his legs up. the doctor smiled with a contemptuous affability that said: "what's to be done? these sick people do have foolish fancies of that kind, but we must forgive them. . " they all rose, said good-night, and went away. when they had gone it seemed to ivan ilyich that he felt better; the falsity had gone with them. but the pain remained—that same pain and that same fear that made everything monotonously alike, nothing harder and nothing easier. everything was worse. again minute followed minute and hour followed hour. everything remained the same and there was no cessation. and the inevitable end of it all became more and more terrible. based on the excerpt, how is praskovya fedorovna a character foil to ivan ilyich? a. she is kind and takes care of ivan, which is why he feels guilty about how he treated her for most of their married life. b. she is vindictive toward ivan while pretending to be worried about him, thus reminding him of how his family has never forgiven him. c. she plays the part of the worried wife without any real feeling, symbolizing the false propriety ivan upheld but now hates. d. she is young, healthy, and beautiful—everything ivan can never be again and wishes he could return to. reset next

Read this excerpt from the exposition in "the monkey's paw." father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire. what is one piece of information you can infer about the story from this sentence? a. the father in the story is possessed, so he probably says insane things a lot. b. the woman in the story is knitting, so the characters probably don't have good clothes to wear. c. the father is playing chess with the son, but the son is not old enough to know the rules. d. since the father likes taking risks in a game, he might like taking risks in life as well.