Question

passage 1
passage 2
be the best of
whatever you are
by douglas malloch
if you cant be a pine on the top of the hill
be a scrub¹ in the valley—but be
the best little scrub by the side of the rill;²
be a bush if you cant be a tree.

if you cant be a bush be a bit of the grass,
and some highway some happier make;
if you cant be a muskie³ then just be a bass—
but the liveliest bass in the lake!

we cant all be captains, weve got to be crew,
theres something for all of us here.
theres big work to do and theres lesser to do,
and the task we must do is the near.
look at page 1 of passage 1. what does the
author mean by the words \we cant all be
captains, weve got to be crew\?
all followers need a good leader.

being a leader is a difficult task.

a follower cant ever be a leader.

we cant all be leaders all the time.

Explanation:

The line "We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew" from the poem implies that not everyone can be a leader (captain) all the time; some have to take on the role of a follower (crew). Let's analyze the options:

• "All followers need a good leader" focuses on followers needing leaders, not the meaning of the given line.
• "Being a leader is a difficult task" is about the difficulty of leadership, not the idea of not all being leaders.
• "A follower can't ever be a leader" is incorrect as the poem doesn't suggest followers can never lead.
• "We can't all be leaders all the time" matches the meaning of the line, as captains are leaders and crew are followers, so not everyone can be a leader always.

Answer:

D. We can't all be leaders all the time. (assuming the options are labeled A - D with D being this option; if the original options had different labels, adjust the identifier but keep the text. Based on the options provided, the correct one is the last option: "We can't all be leaders all the time.")