1.

(a) Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,

including figurative meanings.

In paragraph 1 of "A Quilt of a Country," the author uses a simile, or a

comparison. She says that the United States "was built of bits and pieces ... like

the crazy quilts that have been one of its great folk-art forms, velvet and calico

and checks and brocades." What does the comparison mean about the United

States?