Passage 2
Our world, seemingly global, is in reality a planet of thousands of the most varied and never intersecting
provinces. A trip around the world is a journey from backwater to backwater, each of which considers itself,
in its isolation, a shining star. For most people, the real world ends on the threshold of their house, at the
edge of their village, or, at the very most, on the border of their valley. That which is beyond is unreal,
unimportant, and even useless, whereas that which we have at our fingertips, in our field of vision, expands
until it seems an entire universe, overshadowing all else.
From Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Shadow of the Sun. Translated by Klara Glowczewska. ©2001 by Klara Glowczewska.
Question
The central idea of Passage 2 is that many people around the world share
O a desire for more direct interaction with others in faraway locations
O an understanding of the similarities that exist across distant places
a lack of consideration of places beyond their immediate surroundings
O an inability to recognize the things that make their familiar surroundings unique
