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.
what is the connotative meaning of fault lines in this excerpt?

The connotative meaning of the "fault lines" in the excerpt is something that is powerful and threatening to others.

Explanation:

Anna Quindlen, a Pulitzer-Prize winning author wrote a commentary on the Sept 11 bombing for the Newsweek. In her article "A Quilt Of A Country", she points out that America is home for many nationals who had come there to get a new start or a better way of life. And with this diversity, there is also unity. So, when there are threats of any kind, these different nationalities all come together, united against the common enemy. There may be "fault lines" that demarcates and separates people to people, but in times of crisis and common fight against evil such as terrorism, people forget their national identities and become Americans first. And this is what makes America great in comparison to any other country.

the correct answers are:

c. “never in the history of his people had a man married a woman who spoke a different tongue.”

d. “‘it has never been heard,’ was the verdict of an old man speaking a few weeks later.”

e. “this man had come with others to commiserate with okeke.”