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In the United States, an average of seventy-three people are killed by lightning strikes every year, but there are many things you can do to protect yourself. Indoors, the leading cause of lightning injury is from landline telephones, since the electrical charge can travel a long distance through telephone wires.  So get off the phone, and stay away from major appliances, because metal pipes, electrical wires, and dryer vents can all conduct current into the home.  Don’t take a bath or shower.  Water conducts electricity particularly well.  Being outdoors is much more dangerous than being indoors.  Swimming is a bad idea. You never want to be the tallest object in the area, or directly underneath the tallest object.  Don’t take shelter under a tall tree, or in a small structure such as those on golf courses or near athletic fields. They will protect against wind and rain but not against lightning. Take precautions even when the storm seems safely far away, as lightning can travel as far as ten  miles, and a strike can come out of a clear blue sky. If your hair starts to stand on end in a thunderstorm, this is a bad sign, as it could mean positive charges are rising through you, seeking the negative charge in the air. Move quickly to a safe place! Which of the following sentences is the main ide?  

Conflict is an inevitable part of every person’s life. Everyone deals with conflict in a more or less individual manner. At the same time, five general patterns of reacting to conflict can be identified. One such pattern is withdrawal, the physical or psychological removal from a conflict situation. Another manner of dealing with conflict is surrender, giving in immediately to another’s wishes in order to avoid an argument. Aggression is a third way to deal with conflict.  Those favoring aggressive behavior try to force other people to accept the aggressor’s opinions. Conflict also can be dealt with through persuasion, or attempting to change the behavior or attitude of another person.  A final means of dealing with conflict is discussion, or verbal problem solving, in which the pros and cons of the issue in conflict are weighed and considered.

Words have two kinds of meanings—denotative and connotative. Denotative meaning is precise, literal, and objective.  It simply describes the object, person, place, idea, or event to which the word refers.   One way to think of a word’s denotative meaning is its dictionary definition.  For example, denotatively, the noun school means “a place, institution, or building where instruction is given.”  Connotative meaning is more variable, figurative, and subjective. Put simply, the connotative meaning is what the word suggests or implies. For instance, the connotative meaning of the word school includes the feelings, associations, and emotions that the word touches off in different people. For some people, a school might connote personal growth, childhood friends, and a special teacher. For others, it might connote frustration, discipline, and boring homework assignments.

Mercury, also known as quicksilver, is one of the few elements that are in liquid form at room temperature. Over the centuries mercury has had many ritualistic and scientific uses, almost all of which have been discontinued as its toxic properties have come to be understood.  In ancient China and India, mercury was considered an aid to good health. Historians believe that an early Chinese emperor was driven insane and killed by mercury pills that were supposed to make him live forever.  In Europe and America in the 1700s and 1800s, mercury was used in the manufacture of felt for making hats. The mercury solutionthat the hat makers used was highly toxic. Symptoms included hallucinations and dementia—thus the origin of the phrase “mad as a hatter.” Mercury was once widely used to treat syphilis, which caused confusion because mercury poisoning symptoms are so similar to those of the disease it was supposed to relieve. It was also used as a diuretic and as a laxative.  Although now banned in the United States, mercurochrome is still widely used around the world as a topical antiseptic. Mercury’s use has been discontinued in home thermometers, herbicides, and light switches. Through its industrial uses it has entered thefood chain, showing up in potentially dangerous concentrations in some kinds of fish. Mercury is still used in dentistry. Although mercury amalgam fillings are still officially considered safe for humans, this usage has become controversial.   Which of the following sentences is the main ide?

In 1962 biologist Rachel Carson published Silent Spring, a powerful dissection of the ways that pesticides, particularly DDT, were poisoning man and nature.  In 1972, the federal government banned DDT, largely _______________________ of the outcry that Carson’s book had raised.

Fill in each blank with an appropriate transition from the box. Use each transition once.  

Lighting levels add meaning to communication messages.  In lecture halls and reading rooms, bright light is expected—it encourages good listening and comfortable reading.________________________, in a chic restaurant, a music listening room, or a television lounge, you expect the lighting to be soft and rather dim, which makes for a cozy atmosphere that invites intimate conversation.

The sentence–Front steps facing the sidewalk are places for neighbors to sit and visit, just as corners are places to “hang out.”– is a 

One transition that signals the pattern of organization of this paragraph is ______________.

The sentence–One such pattern is withdrawal, the physical or psychological removal from a conflict situation.– provides