Question

"January Book Club: 'Heart: A History'"
by Randi Hutter Epstein

Fun facts are sprinkled throughout. The adult heart beats about three billion times between birth and death; the amount of blood that passes through an adult heart every week is enough to fill a swimming pool.

Jauhar is at his best when writing about the heart. At times, he veers off topic. I commend him for volunteering at ground zero after the 9/11 attacks, but I would have preferred hearing more about the woman who suffered from stress-related heart ailments than the work he did identifying bodies.

Jauhar visited the wellness center of Dean Ornish, the doctor who promoted a Mediterranean diet. I wanted to know Jauhar’s expert opinion on how this regime compares with others.



"Bloody and Beating" by Randi Hutter Epstein, from THE NEW YORK TIMES, November 5, 2018. Copyright © 2018 by The New York Times Company. All rights reserved. Used under license.

Question
Use the excerpt from a book review to answer the question.

This excerpt is from a review of the book Heart: A History by Sandeep Jauhar. Which sentence from the review best evaluates the author’s development of the central idea?

(1 point)
Responses

At times, he veers off topic.
At times, he veers off topic.

The adult heart beats about three billion times between birth and death; the amount of blood that passes through an adult heart every week is enough to fill a swimming pool.
The adult heart beats about three billion times between birth and death; the amount of blood that passes through an adult heart every week is enough to fill a swimming pool.

Fun facts are sprinkled throughout.
Fun facts are sprinkled throughout.

Jauhar visited the wellness center of Dean Ornish, the doctor who promoted a Mediterranean diet.
Jauhar visited the wellness center of Dean Ornish, the doctor who promoted a Mediterranean diet.

Answer 1

"At times, he veers off topic."

This sentence evaluates how well the author develops and maintains the book’s central idea (criticizing lapses in focus).