Question

read the excerpt from \a genetics of justice\ by julia alvarez.
by the time my mother married my father, however, she knew all about the true nature of the dictatorship. thousands had lost their lives in failed attempts to return the country to democracy. family friends, whom she had assumed had dropped away of their own accord, turned out to have been disappeared. my father had been lucky. as a young man, he had narrowly escaped to canada after the plot he had participated in as a student failed. this was to be the first of two escapes. that same year, 1937, el generalisimo ordered the overnight slaughter of some eighteen thousand haitians, who had come across the border to work on sugarcane plantations for slave wages.
what is the central idea of this excerpt?
○ the dictatorship resulted in many deaths.
○ it was possible for people to escape to canada.
○ many people fought for a democratic nation.
○ the author’s family was unusually lucky.

Explanation:

To find the central idea, we analyze each option:

• Option "It was possible for people to escape to Canada": The excerpt mentions the father's escape to Canada, but this is a detail, not the central idea.
• Option "Many people fought for a democratic nation": The excerpt says thousands died in failed attempts to return the country to democracy, but the main focus is on the dictatorship's consequences, not the fight for democracy.
• Option "The author’s family was unusually lucky": The father's luck is a detail, and the excerpt also talks about many deaths, so this is not the central idea.
• Option "The dictatorship resulted in many deaths": The excerpt states thousands lost their lives in failed democratic attempts, family friends were disappeared, and eighteen thousand Haitians were slaughtered, all due to the dictatorship. This covers the main events and consequences described.

Answer:

The dictatorship resulted in many deaths.