“So where are you from, Judy?”

Question

“New York,” I told my classmates. After all, I had been born blocks away at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.

“I mean, originally.”

“From the Caribbean,” I answered vaguely, for if I specified, no one was quite sure what continent our island was located.

“Really? I’ve been to Bermuda. We went last April for spring vacation. I got the worst sunburn! So, are you from Portoriko?”

“No,” I shook my head. “From the Dominican Republic.”

“Where’s that?”

“South of Bermuda.”

They were just being curious, I knew, but I burned with shame whenever they singled me out as a “foreigner,” a rare, exotic friend.

What evidence from the passage best supports the inference that the teenaged Alvarez just wants to fit into American culture?

“New York,” I told my classmates. After all, I had been born blocks away at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital.
“From the Caribbean,” I answered vaguely, for if I specified, no one was quite sure what continent our island was located.
“No,” I shook my head. “From the Dominican Republic.”
They were just being curious, I knew, but I burned with shame whenever they singled me out as a “foreigner,” a rare, exotic friend.

Answer 1

The evidence that best supports the inference that the teenaged Alvarez just wants to fit into American culture is found in the following line:

"They were just being curious, I knew, but I burned with shame whenever they singled me out as a 'foreigner,' a rare, exotic friend."

This line indicates that Alvarez feels uncomfortable with her identity being highlighted as different or exotic, which suggests a desire to blend in with her classmates and be accepted as part of the American culture rather than being viewed as an outsider.