Question

now i know your first choice today was alice walker - guess how i know! - known for the color purple. instead you got me - known for the color of my hair! alice walkers book has a special resonance here. at wellesley, each class is known by a special color. for four years the class of 90 has worn the color purple. today you meet on severance green to say goodbye to all of that, to begin a new and very personal journey, to search for your own true colors.
in the world that awaits you, beyond the shores of lake waban, no one can say what your true colors will be. but this i do know: you have a first class education from a first class school. and so you need not, probably cannot, live a \paint - by - numbers\ life. decisions are not irrevocable. choices do come back. and as you set off from wellesley, i hope that many of you will consider making three very special choices.
the first is to believe in something larger than yourself, to get involved in some of the big ideas of our time. i chose literacy because i honestly believe that if more people could read, write, and comprehend, we would be that much closer to solving so many of the problems that plague our nation and our society.
and early on i made another choice which i hope youll make as well. whether you are talking about education, career, or service, youre talking about life - and life really must have joy. its supposed to be fun!
one of the reasons i made the most important decision of my life, to marry george bush, is because he made me laugh. its true, sometimes weve laughed through our tears. but that shared laughter has been one of our strongest bonds. find the joy in life, because as ferris bueller said on his day off, \life moves pretty fast; and ya dont stop and look around once in a while, ya gonna miss it!\
(i am not going to tell george ya clapped more for ferris than ya clapped for george.)
the third choice that must not be missed is to cherish your human connections: your relationships with family and friends. for several years, youve had impressed upon you the importance to your career of dedication and hard work. and, of course, thats true. but as important as your obligations as a doctor, a lawyer, a business leader will be, you are a

5 mark for review
in the second - to - last paragraph, the anecdote about the complaining husband serves primarily to
a provide an example of how women should motivate their partners to take on more childcare responsibilities
b illustrate the authors claim regarding the value of devoting oneself to ones children
c reinforce the authors recommendation that women develop friendships outside the family
d establish a contrast between the friends dedication to her family and her husbands focus on his career

Explanation:

The anecdote about the complaining husband is used to support the author's claim. The author emphasizes the value of human connections (family and friends). The husband's complaint shows the contrast between focusing only on career (husband) and the importance of cherishing human connections (friend). But looking at the options, option B is about devoting to children (a part of human connections - family). The author's overall message in the text is about making choices that add value, and devoting to children (as part of human connections) ties in. Option A is about women motivating partners for childcare which is not the main point. Option C is about friendships outside family but the anecdote is more about family (husband - wife - children dynamic in a way as it's about the friend's life where husband is complaining). Option D's contrast is not the main purpose; the main purpose is to illustrate the value of devoting (as the author is making a claim about choices that have value like devoting to important aspects - in this case, the friend's life which includes family).

Answer:

B. illustrate the author's claim regarding the value of devoting oneself to one's children