Question

read the excerpt from a quilt of a country. once these disparate parts were held together by a common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and the electrified fence of communism. with the end of the cold war there was the creeping concern that without a focus for hatred and distrust, a sense of national identity would evaporate, that the left side of the hyphen—african - american, mexican - american, irish - american—would overwhelm the right. and slow - growing domestic traumas like economic unrest and increasing crime seemed more likely to emphasize division than community. today the citizens of the united states have come together once more because of armed conflict and enemy attack. which sentence from the excerpt best reveals the context of the excerpt? once these disparate parts were held together by a common enemy, by the fault lines of world wars and the electrified fence of communism. with the end of the cold war there was the creeping concern that without a focus for hatred and distrust, a sense of national identity would evaporate, that the left side of the hyphen—african - american, mexican - american, irish - american—would overwhelm the right. and slow - growing domestic traumas like economic unrest and increasing crime seemed more likely to emphasize division than community. today the citizens of the united states have come together once more because of armed conflict and enemy attack.

Explanation:

The passage discusses the impact of external factors (common enemy, end of Cold - war) on national identity and social unity in the US. The sentence that best reveals the central idea is the one that sums up the concern about national identity with the end of the Cold - war.

Answer:

With the end of the cold war there was the creeping concern that without a locus for hatred and distrust, a sense of national identity would evaporate, that the left side of the hyphen—African - American, Mexican - American, Irish - American—would overwhelm the right.