Question

read the excerpt from \a genetics of justice\ by julia alvarez.
images of the dictator hung in every house next to the crucifix and la virgencita with the declaration beneath: in this house trujillo is chief. the pale face of a young military man wearing a plumed bicorne hat and a gold - braided uniform looked down beneficently at my mother as she read her romantic novels and dreamed of meeting the great love of her life. sometimes in her daydreams, her great love wore the handsome young dictators face. never having seen him, my mother could not know the portrait was heavily retouched.
what is the central idea of this paragraph?
the images of trujillo portrayed him falsely.
trujillo wore elaborate uniforms and headpieces.
alvarezs mother wanted to meet trujillo one day.
young people dream about the person they will marry.

Explanation:

The text describes how the mother saw the dictator's image (portrait) as a romantic figure. But it's noted that the portrait was "heavily retouched", meaning it didn't show the real him. The other options either focus on minor details (like Trujillo's uniforms - which is just part of the image description) or are incorrect (the mother didn't just want to meet him - she had romantic daydreams based on the false portrait; the last option is too general and not about the dictator).

Answer:

The images of Trujillo portrayed him falsely.