What best paraphrases the central idea of the excerpt?
What is your name? What is your job? are examples of questions the immigrants answered.
Medical exams were frightening to the newcomers, so they had to sit down.
If they had ever been in a prison, the immigrants were not allowed to stay in America.
Immigrants were asked many questions before being allowed into the United States.
Answers
The central idea of this excerpt is that immigration was a particularly challenging, multi-layered process for immigrants.
Immigrants face many situations and go through many checks before being cleared for immigration. The process includes direct interviews with officials, wherein the identity and skills of the applicant are ascertained. Next, the medical examination was conducted to check their health status. Both these processes can be intimidating for immigrants. Background checks were also run and immigrants with a history of prison time were not permitted to stay in the United States. Entry into America was granted only after extensive questioning of the immigrants.
All these details suggest that the central idea of the excerpt is that immigration was not easy and was instead, a complex process for immigrants to navigate through.
Answer:
The central idea of this excerpt is that immigration was a particularly challenging, multi-layered process for immigrants.
Explanation: