What does Alfonso do in this passage? What is Alfonso's reason for his actions?
Alfonso sat on the porch trying to push his crooked teeth
to where he thought they belonged. He hated the way he
looked. Last week he did fifty sit-ups a day, thinking that
he would burn those already apparent ripples on his
stomach to even deeper ripples, dark ones, so when he
went swimming at the canal next summer, girls in cut-
offs would notice. And the guys would think he was
tough, someone who could take a punch and give it back.
--"Broken Chain,"
Gary Soto

How to prevent onions from making you cry chill the onions in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before peeling or chopping them. sulfuric vapors move slower in the cold—think about how garbage smells worse during hot weather. leave the onion root intact until the last possible moment to prevent irritants from escaping into the air. the root contains the largest concentration of sulfuric compounds in an onion. chop or cut the onion with a sharp knife. fast, clean slicing puts less pressure on the onion tissue and minimizes the release of sulfuric compounds. a sharp knife also allows you to expedite your slicing and reduce your exposure to the onion fumes. open a window or light a scented candle close to your chopping station. the hot flame of a candle will attract tear-causing vapor and will reduce the amount of vapor circulating in the air. what can be done to these instructions to make them easier to read at a glance? deleting everything except the first sentences of each numbered step eliminating the numbers and using bullets using illustrations instead of text changing nothing

What point is the author trying to make by comparing the travel times of the first transcontinental railroad and the first transcontinental flight?

Read the following excerpt from life on the mississippi by mark twain. no girl could withstand his charms. he "cut out" every boy in the village. when his boat blew up at last, it diffused a tranquil contentment among us such as we had not known for months. but when he came home the next week, alive, renowned, and appeared in church all battered up and bandaged, a shining hero, stared at and wondered over by everybody, it seemed to us that the partiality of providence for an undeserving reptile had reached a point where it was open to criticism. how does twain's use of understatement serve his purpose? be sure to use specific details from the text to support your answer.