Study Island Question

Question

Passage 1

Wounded

by J. Robbins

     White Feather looked down at her ankle and groaned. She knew her fall down the hill had broken it, and the pain throbbed though her whole body. Her father had always warned her about her tendency to rush through the forest without paying attention to her surroundings. I wish I had listened to him, she thought.

     Suddenly, a figure appeared at the top of the hill. Her heart began to pound when she realized that the stranger was wearing the ceremonial war paint of a rival tribe. I am as good as dead, she thought in despair. No warrior would hesitate to kill a wounded enemy. The pain in her ankle could not compare to the pain in her heart as the stranger approached her.

     White Feather tried to drag herself along the ground to escape the warrior, but he quickly caught up with her and kneeled beside her. She watched in amazement as he placed his hunting gear on the ground and gestured for her to be still. The warrior gently placed a bundle of herbs on her ankle, and the pain immediately receded from White Feather's wound. She could not believe her eyes as the stranger picked up his gear and disappeared into the forest.

Passage 2

Brains

by J. Robbins

     Mary Abbott walked into the cafeteria and hoisted her heavy science project onto the table. The room was filled with students' excited voices as they set up for the annual science fair. Mary ignored all possible distractions as she prepared her project. She had worked for months—and had even given up her summer vacation—to guarantee that she would win the first place trophy and scholarship money. Right, she thought with a grin. I can convince everyone else that I want the prize, but the truth is I want to beat Pierre. That's all that matters.

     "Well, Mary-Mary-quite-contrary," mocked Pierre, interrupting her concentration. Mary winced and turned to face the boy who seemed determined to annoy her at every turn. He was trying to peer over her shoulder to see her project, but she blocked it from his view.

     "You really should be setting up, Pierre," Mary told him through gritted teeth. "The judges don't like to wait on tardy contestants." Pierre grinned and wagged his finger in her face.

     "No worries," he said confidently. "Once the judges see my solar powered battery farm, they will send everyone else home." Mary's face fell as she heard his words. A solar powered battery farm? she worried. That's exactly the kind of thing the judges love.

     "Contestants, to your places," called one of the judges over the loudspeaker. "The first project to be judged will be Mary Abbott's." Here we go, she told herself, and she pushed thoughts of Pierre out of her mind.

How is the conflict in Passage 1 different from the conflict in Passage 2?

 A. 

The conflict in Passage 1 is created by a character's prejudice; the conflict in Passage 2 is resolved by tolerance.

 B. 

The conflict in Passage 1 shows the horrors of war; the conflict in Passage 2 shows the importance of peace.

 C. 

The conflict in Passage 1 takes place in a character's imagination; the conflict in Passage 2 takes place in reality.

 D. 

The conflict in Passage 1 is based on a cultural rivalry; the conflict in Passage 2 is based on an intellectual rivalry.

Answer 1

The strategy I would use here is elimination. You can automatically rule out answers A and B because the conflict in passage 2 didn't show the importance of peace and the conflict wasn't resolved. While in answer C, I suppose the first passage could have been the character's imagination, but we don't have any direct evidence that it didn't just take place in another time period. This leaves us with answer D. Passage 1 is based on cultural rivalry, as seen by her fear of someone on the opposite side of the war. You can see that they are from different cultures by the note of his war paint being of another tribe. You can see that passage 2 is based on intellectual rivalry because of the main character's drive to beat Pierre in the science fair.