Candy, as eight-year-old Bindi named her newly acquired companion, was a rat. "I got him two weeks after my dad died . . . He helps me feel lots better!" . . . A sense of security is critical for any grieving child, and Bindi, naturally, had found it in an animal -- one who'd sit on her shoulder as she'd rollerblade and on her lap during interviews. As she prepared to take on life without Dad, a small friend provided big comfort. —Steve and Bindi Irwin,
Amy Breguet

How might a sixth-grader connect this text to his or her own life?

A sixth-grader can appreciate that a pet can be a great comfort to a kid who is sad.
A sixth-grader knows what it is like to have a career.
A sixth-grader understands how to train rats.
A sixth-grader knows a lot about nature and animal habitats.

Read the passage below and answer the question that follows. ‘you make me feel uncivilized, daisy,’ i confessed on my second glass of corky but rather impressive claret. ‘can’t you talk about crops or something? ’ i meant nothing in particular by this remark but it was taken up in an unexpected way. ‘civilization’s going to pieces,’ broke out tom violently. ‘i’ve gotten to be a terrible pessimist about things. have you read ‘the rise of the coloured empires’ by this man goddard? ’ ‘why, no,’ i answered, rather surprised by his tone. ‘well, it’s a fine book, and everybody ought to read it. the idea is if we don’t look out the white race will be—will be utterly submerged. it’s all scientific stuff; it’s been proved.’ in this passage, tom’s ideas about race relations come off as uncivilized. what literary device is fitzgerald using here? irony personification metaphor simile