Question # 1. The following question has two parts. First, answer part A. Then, answer part B.

Question # 1, Part A

What is most likely the author's intent by mentioning the “Rodeo Drive shopping spree” in the following paragraph?

When my parents said the three of us were moving out to California, to a place just north of Los Angeles, my mind immediately went to thoughts of Disneyland and Hollywood, glitz and glamour. I imagined a Rodeo Drive shopping spree to pick out a bikini for the endless days I would be spending on the beach. However, I’d forgotten about my parents’ penchant for the unconventional; they’re definitely “the road less traveled” kind of people. Mom had a gopher snake for a pet when she was younger, and Dad was never happier than when he was climbing near-vertical cliffs that only mountain goats could love. These are not city folk.

Question 1 options:

To show that the narrator comes from a family that is used to spending money.


To reveal the narrator as someone who is shallow and cares only for nice things.


To contrast the narrator's grand dreams with the sparse life her parents have in mind.


To emphasize the narrator's nervousness about moving to a place so far removed from civilization.


Question # 2, Part B

Which sentence from the text best supports your answer in part A?

Question 2 options:

“On the stone staircase that led to the front door, black lizards interrupted their push-ups to twist their heads and eye us as we passed.”


“Our new home consisted of one bedroom, one bathroom, and one big room for everything else.”


“Dad told me the real estate agent had mentioned that coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and even bears roamed these hills.”


“In the city, or even in the suburbs where I had lived before, you could see only the brightest stars in the sky.”