Please help me I don't understand

the answer:

in the first part of the story running is all that matters to squeaky. running gives her confidence and defines who she is. at the beginning of the story she says that other kids call her mercury because she runs very fast. in the text she refers to herself as "miss quicksilver".

the line that provides the best evidence that squeaky has self-confidence is

" and i continue with my breathing exercise, strolling down broadway toward the ice cream man on 145th with not a care in the world cause i am miss quicksilver herself".

the answer is:

to persuade readers that a conquering prince must destroy a former republic if he hopes to hold it.

in the excerpt from "the prince," the author niccolò machiavelli suggests that to take possession of a city and endure the control over it, it is necessary to destroy it first. otherwise, people who have known freedom will eventually turn against the new rulers and fight back to recover their power.