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Information and IdeasHardQuotation supporting a claim about failure

Information and Ideas practice question

A student argues that the essay's author regards failure as instructive.

Which quotation from the essay would best support the student's claim?

  1. A. 'Every bridge I have designed well stands on the ruins of one I got wrong.'Correct
  2. B. 'I have never failed, and I intend never to start.'
  3. C. 'The bridge opened on a Tuesday, in light rain.'
  4. D. 'Failure is a word I refuse to use.'

Answer: A. 'Every bridge I have designed well stands on the ruins of one I got wrong.'

Good bridges built on earlier wrong ones — failure as the foundation of later success.

Why the other answers are wrong

B. 'I have never failed, and I intend never to start.'
A boast of never failing says nothing about learning from it.
C. 'The bridge opened on a Tuesday, in light rain.'
A neutral detail about an opening day.
D. 'Failure is a word I refuse to use.'
Refusing the word suggests denial, not instruction.

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