Which one of the following most accurately describes the author's use of the word "communities" in line 2 and "commun...

shunhe on August 7, 2020

Hey there,

Thanks for the question! So you’er right in that “former” refers to the word “communities” in line 2, and “latter” refers to the word “community” in line 15. But that’s how they’re being used here, they’re not switched!

Take a look at line 2. There, we’re told that “expansive, low-density communities have proliferated at the edges of many cities in the United States and Canada.” Is that a group of people who have a sense of belonging together? It’s kind of weird to describe them as expansive and low-density. Instead, we’re talking about the actual dwellings (and inhabitants) here. The dwellings are clustered together in a particular area, and those are what are expansive and low-density. So this is talking about the buildings themselves.

Now take a look at line 15, where we’re told basically it’s hard to “imagine the concept of community without a town square or local pub.” Basically, it’s saying you can’t have community without a town square or local pub. Are they talking about the buildings here? You can definitely just have the other buildings here. But what would be missing out is a sense of belonging, and so here, the author is talking about a group of people who have a sense of belonging together.

Hope this helps! Feel free to ask any other questions that you might have.

bihaoqing@gmail.com on July 7, 2021

Hello @Shunhe. I had difficulty understanding the phrase sense of belonging which caused me to not choose B is the right answer. Can you explain how that phrase conforms to the word "community" in line 15?