Reading Compreh...

The following passage is from a $$1991$$ essay that discusses the debate over which authors should be taught in English classes.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

In this passage, the narrator considers his family's history and migration from Mexico to Texas, which was once part of Mexico. I never understood people's fascination with immortality.

This discussion of vervet monkeys is from a $$19844$$ book
about animal communication.
Vervet monkeys have at least three different categories of alarm calls. When a leopard or other large carnivorous mammal approaches, the monkeys given one type of alarm call; quite a different call is used at the sight of a martial eagle, one of the few flying predators that captures vervet monkeys. A third type of alarm call is given when a large snake approached the group. This degree of differentiation of alarm calls is not unique, although it has been described in only a few kings of animals. When ethologists, who study animal behavior, interpret data of this kind, they required proof that variations in animal communication signals convey anything more than information about the communicator's internal state.
The first and relatively simple question is whether the vervet monkey's three types of alarm calls convey to other monkeys information about the type of predator. Such information is important, because the animal's defensive tactics are different in the three cases. When a leopard approaches, the monkeys climb into trees. But leopards are good climbers, so the monkeys can escape them only by climbing out onto the smallest branches, which are too weak to support a leopard. When the monkeys see a martial eagle, they move into thick vegetation close to a tree trunk or at ground level. Thus the tactics that help escape from a leopard make them highly vulnerable to a martial eagle, and vice versa. In response to the threat of a large snake, they stand on their hind legs and look around to locate the snake, then simply more away from it, either along the ground or by climbing into a tree.
Knowing that the monkeys given different alarm calls when they see different predators does not establish beyond a doubt that the calls actually describe the type of predator.
When the monkeys, which are usually close to each other, hear an alarm call, each one quickly around at the caller. Like many other animals, they are adept at the judging the direction in which another animal is looking, so they can easily see what the caller is looking at. This serves much the same function as pointing. When monkeys other than the caller take the appropriate action to avoid the danger, it is difficult to be sure whether they are acting solely on the basis of the call or whether the call simply led them to look at the source of the danger. To clarify this situation, researches conducted some carefully controlled playback experiments under natural conditions. The basic idea was to play from a concealed loudspeaker tape recordings of vervet alarm calls when vervets had just seen a leopard, a martial eagle, or a large python, and to inquire whether these playbacks, in the absence of a predator, would elicit the normal response.
The experiments required many precautions and refinements. For instance, vervet monkeys come to know each other as individuals, not only by visual appearance but by minor differences in their vocalizations. They might not respond even to an alarm call recorded from one of their own companions if that individual was in plain sight some distance from the vegetation concealing the speaker. In all experiments, the loudspeaker reproduced calls of a member of a group, and the speaker was hidden in a place where the monkeys would expect that individual to be. The experiments has to be prepared with tape recordings of a known member of a well-studied group of vervet monkeys and a hidden speaker located where this individual frequently spends time. When all these conditions were satisfied, the playbacks of alarm calls did indeed elicit the appropriate responses.
The monkeys responded to the leopard alarm call by climbing into the nearest tree: the martial eagle alarm caused them to dive into thick vegetation; and the python alarm produced the typical behavior of standing on the hind legs and looking all around for the nonexistent snake. Not all ethologists have accepted the straightforward interpretation that the alarm calls convey information about the type of predator. One alternative interpretation is that the alarm calls are injunctions to behave in certain ways. Thus the leopard alarm might mean "Go climb into a tree." But even this interpretation necessarily ascribes three specific types of injunction to the vocabulary if vervet monkeys. Even such postulated injunctions would be more than a simple reflection of the internal state of the communicator.

The passage below is from a 1991 autobiography that focuses on an African American woman's adolescent experiences at a prestigious boarding school. The passage describes one pan of a meeting of parents, admissions officers, and prospective students. The story the mother recounts at this meeting took place in 1965.
      My mother began to tell a story about a science award I had won in third grade. She started with the winning, the long, white staircase in the auditorium, and how the Line announcer called my name twice because we were way at (5) the back and it took me so long to get down those steps. 
      Mama's eyes glowed. She was a born raconteur, able to increase the intensity of her own presence and fill the room. She was also a woman who seldom found new audiences for her anecdotes, so she made herself happy, she (10) insisted, with us children, her mother, her sisters, her grandparents -  an entire clan of storytellers competing for a turn on the family stage. This time all eyes were on my mother. Her body, brown and plump and smooth, was shot through with energy. This time the story had a purpose. 
        (15) She told them how my science experiment almost did not get considered in the citywide competition. My third-grade teacher, angry that I'd forgotten to bring a large box for displaying and storing the experiment, made me pack it up to take home. (Our teacher had told us that the boxes (20) were needed to carry the experiments from our class to the exhibition room, and she'd emphasized that she would not be responsible for finding thirty boxes on the day of the fair. Without a box, the experiment would have to go home. Other kids, White kids, had forgotten boxes during the (25) week. They'd brought boxes the next day. I asked for the same dispensation but was denied. The next day was the fair, she said. That was different.) 
        I came out of school carrying the pieces of an experiment my father had picked out for me from a textbook. (30) This was a simple buoyancy experiment where I weighed each object in the air and then in water, to prove they weighed less in water. I had with me the scale, a brick, a piece of wood, a bucket, and a carefully lettered poster. 
        Well, my mother marched me and my armload of (35) buoyant materials right back into school and caught the teacher before she left. The box was the only problem? Just the box? Nothing wrong with the experiment? An excited eight year old had forgotten a lousy, stinking box that you can get from the supermarket and for that, she (40) was out of the running? The teacher said I had to learn to follow directions. My mother argued that I had followed directions by doing the experiment by myself, which was more than you could say for third graders who'd brought dry-cell batteries that lit light bulbs and papier-mache (45) volcanoes that belched colored lava. 
     "Don't you ever put me in a position like that again," Mama said when we were out of earshot of the classroom. "You never know who is just waiting for an excuse to shut us out." 
        (50) We got the box; my experiment went into the fair; I won the prize at school. I won third prize for my age group in the city. 
       When Mama finished her stay, my ears began to burn. I could not help but believe that they would see through (55) this transparent plug, and before I had even laid hands on an application. They'd think we were forward and pushy. I forgot, for the moment, how relieved I'd felt when Mama had stood in front of that teacher defending me with a blinding sense of purpose, letting the teacher (60) know that I was not as small and Black and alone as I seemed, that I came from somewhere, and where I came from, she'd better believe, somebody was home. 
       The other mothers nodded approvingly. My father gave me a wide, clever-girl smile. The officials from (65) the school looked at me deadpan. They seemed amused by my embarrassment. 
         The story was an answer (part rebuke and part condolence) to the school stories that the admissions people told, where no parents figured at all. It was a message (70) about her maternal concerns, and a way to prove that racism was not some vanquished enemy, but a real, live person, up in your face, ready, for no apparent reason, to mess with your kid. When I was in third grade, Mama could do her maternal duty and face down a White teacher (75) who would have deprived me of an award. Who at this new school would stand up for her child in her stead?