Soda tries to understand, at least, which is more than Darry does. But then, Soda is different from anybody; he understands everything, almost. Like he’s never hollering at me all the time the way Darry is, or treating me as if I was six instead of fourteen. I love Soda more than I’ve ever loved anyone, even Mom and Dad. Which statement best states the theme of this excerpt?

People are alike inside.
Hardship builds character.
Kindness creates loyalty.
Appearances can be deceptive.

The statement which best states the theme of the excerpt is:

C. Kindness creates loyalty.

Explanation:

This excerpt was taken from the novel "The Outsiders", by author Susan E. Hilton. The narrator, Ponyboy, is talking of his brother, explaining how he feels toward him. Because he feels like Soda truly listens to him and cares about him, Ponyboy feels love for him that he does not feel for anyone else. And, because of this love, he is loyal to Soda. This could be easily summarized as kindness --> love --> loyalty. Ponyboy feels and acts the way he does because of his brother's kindness.

the sentence does not violate the phrase structure second rule (introduced by noam chomsky) because noun phrases consist of a determiner such as a, the or every, and a noun. in the sentence, the noun phrase the cake includes a determiner (the) and a noun (cake).

on the other hand, the first rule indicates that a sentence encloses a noun phrase, followed by a verb phrase. the example sentence can be analysed as follows:

john (n) + ate (v) + the (det) + cake (n).

pulling in the reader is important