Paragraph A

(1)Violence, of course, is rampant in the media. (2)But it is usually set in some kind of moral context. (3)It’s usually only the bad guys who commit violent acts against the innocent. (4)When the good guys get violent, it’s against those who deserve it. (5)Dirty Harry blows away the scum; he doesn’t walk up to a toddler and say, “Make my day.”(6)But in some rock songs, it’s the “heroes” who commit the acts. (7)The people we are programmed to identify with are the ones being violent, with women on the receiving end. (8)In a society where rape and assaults on women are endemic, this is no small problem, with millions of young boys watching on their TV screens and listening on their iPods.(9)I think something needs to be done. (10)I’d like to see people in the industry respond to the problem. (11)I’d love to see some women rock stars speak out against violence against women. (12)I would like to see disc jockeys refuse airplay to records and videos that contain such violence. (13)At the very least, I want to see the end of the silence. (14)I want journalists and parents and critics and performing artists to keep this issue alive in the public forum.

Paragraph B

(1)Geologists study rocks. (2)Archaeologists study old civilizations. (3)And atmospheric chemists—the newest breed of scientist—study old air, the kind trapped in bubbles found in glaciers left over from the last ice age or in the ice sheets of Greenland or Antarctica. (4)By studying the history of our atmosphere, these scientists can tell what the air was like in prehistoric times and measure how human activity over two thousand years has changed it. (5)First, the ice is cut into cubes, and then the air is sucked out into a vacuum chamber where it is stored in tubes. (6)Finally, the carbon dioxide level is analyzed by a laser beam. (7)It is believed that rising levels of carbon dioxide foretell a rise in temperatures around the world. (8)Thus these scientists may be able to predict dangerous changes in climate and possibly the next ice age.

Paragraph C

(1)I have a relative who never throws anything away. (2)This woman (in the interests of protecting her privacy, I won’t tell you who she is. (3)Just let me say that I’ve known her forever and she shares a bedroom with my father) has a stack of Reader’s Digest magazines five feet high. (4)“Someday I’m going to take all the ‘It Pays To Increase Your Word Power’ quizzes,” she says when I suggest it’s time to say goodbye to issues from, oh, say, 1974 to 1987. (5)In her garage are roughly four million cardboard tubes from rolls of toilet paper and paper towels. (6)“They’re so useful for children’s art projects,” she says, ignoring the fact that her children are all in their mid-twenties. (7)Her kitchen cupboards are jammed with little aluminum foil pans from chicken pot pies. (8)“I could make individual lemon-meringue pies for a special dessert,” she says. (9)“You’ve been saying that for fifteen years,” I say. (10)“Well, someday I’m going to,” she answers. (11)“Just as soon as I’ve gotten through all those ‘Word Power’ quizzes.”

Paragraph D

(1)Young men who have committed minor crimes are generally locked up in jail with older, more hardened lawbreakers. (2)There the younger men merely learn to be better criminals. (3)A far better idea is to send young offenders to “boot camp.” (4)Such camps have been set up in scattered areas around the country, and more should be established. (5)In the boot camps, modeled after the ones Army recruits go through, young offenders serve their time as they become more disciplined, increase their self-confidence, and learn to work as part of a team. (6)Instead of sitting in jail cells all day, the men cooperate in work projects, undergo a tough physical training program, and see other men functioning as positive role models. (7)“Graduates” of prison boot camp are more likely to become productive citizens than men who have spent their sentences in jail.