Question

2. (1) The United States buys goods from other nations at such a frenzied pace that it has become the largest debtor nation in the world. (2) When you add up what we pay for the products we buy from other nations and what we receive for the products we sell to those nations, at the end of the year we end up about $600 billion short. (3) Year after year, we sell less than we buy. (4) These mountains of debt have been piling up, and this cannot go on indefinitely. (5) Just as individuals must repay what they borrow or else get into financial trouble—and perhaps financial ruin—so it is with nations. (6) To finance the national debt (the total mount the U.S. government owes), we pay about $180 billion a year in interest. (7) These billions are money that we cannot use to build schools and colleges, hire teachers, pay for medical services or job programs for the poor, operate Head Start, or pay for any other services that help to improve our quality of life.
The implied main idea of the selection is

a. Government officials have refused to tell American citizens the truth about our financial crisis.
b. America imports many more products than it exports.
c. It is possible for entire countries as well as individuals to get into financial trouble.
d. Our huge national debt has gotten us in financial trouble and threatens our quality of life.

Answer 1

I believe the correct answer is: d. Our huge national debt has gotten us in financial trouble and threatens our quality of life.

The implied main idea of the selection is that huge national debt causes financial trouble and threatens the quality of life, due to more import than export. The author states in the text that the country loses 600 million of dollars because it imports more than it export, and that because of these lost 600 million, the quality of life is threatened by not having money to build schools and colleges, hire teachers, pay for medical services or job programs for the poor.