The implicit meaning in the line "now I'm someone who watches tractor pulls on obscure cable channels" is that, though an Indian immigrant, in some ways she feels very integrated into American society. The main contextual clue in the line is "tractor pulls" because tractor pulling is a kind of competition that one would not think is popular in India, but it is kind of motorsport competition that is popular in the United States. The fact that the speaker is watching this competitions on cable channels lets the reader know that she has adopted some american cultural customs.
235,236,237,238,239,240,241,242,243,244
Yep, that's basically the whole task. To change the passage to become more 'upbeat', yet still share similar words to the previous words, the following could be changed to...
trudged= plodded
shuffled= staggered
scrutinised= questioned
sparse=meagre
closed in= confined
anxious= eager (Although eager and anxious generally do not share a similar definition, in this context they do as 'anxious' is used to describe being excited to do something, and share the same meaning of 'Very eager or concerned to do something or for something to happen'
pried= wrenched
confronted= suddenly exposed
puzzling=baffling
something=remarkable
used=castoff
questioned=pondered
anxious=uneasy
d. giving the reader enough detail to form a picture in his or her mind.
The key to description is to give the reader enough detail or information in order to form or create a vivid picture of the thing, place or scenario in his or her mind. The important features, the characteristics of the subject being talked about must be clearly described an emphasize in order for a description to be a success. It is only when the listener or the reader be able to draw the scenario out of the descriptions given will we say that the description is delivered well.
