Question

nerve nullification
rafa garcia paced back and forth across his room, nerves on edge, thinking about how to start working on his big history project. last week, mrs. williams, his history teacher, had assigned the class a project to research any historical figure. rafa chuckled as he remembered thinking, \easy—i love research.\ his joy turned to dread as mrs. williams continued to explain that the project is to deliver a ten - minute presentation. \ugh...\ he thought, \i really dont want to give a presentation.\ and as if the class could read his mind, they let out an audible cringe. everyone except for taj, rafas best friend. taj gave a quiet cheer. he had been involved in stage productions since elementary school. he loved being in front of an audience.
\and,\ mrs. williams said with a big smile, \the student giving the best presentation will be invited to compete in a statewide competition called historys heroes.\
rafa and taj talked about the project on their way home from school. \dont fret, rafa. lots of people get nervous speaking in front of people,\ taj said, trying to help rafa feel better about the assignment. \youre not unusual. plus, you are great at doing research. that is half the battle.\
read the sentences from the passage.
\get yourself together, rafa,\ he told himself. \youre ready. you can do this.\
what does this internal dialogue show about rafas character?
(a) that rafa follows tajs advice
(b) how rafa builds his confidence
(c) what will happen if rafa performs poorly
(d) that rafa dislikes the project mrs. williams assigns

Explanation:

Rafa's internal dialogue "Get yourself together, Rafa... You're ready, you can do this" shows that he is trying to boost his own confidence. There is no mention of Taj's advice in this particular internal dialogue (so option A is wrong). The text doesn't discuss what will happen if he performs poorly (so option C is wrong). And his initial reaction to the project was about not wanting to give a presentation, but this internal dialogue is focused on confidence - building, not disliking the project (so option D is wrong).

Answer:

B. how Rafa builds his confidence