Question

a white heron
by sarah orne jewett (excerpt)
in the excerpt from this short story, a hunter comes to
the house of sylvia and her grandmother. he is
searching for a white heron. sylvia knows where the
white heron lives, but she is not sure she wants the
hunter to find the bird. she is soon faced with a
dilemma.
(1) “so sywy knows all about birds, does she?” he
exclaimed, as he looked round at the little girl who sat,
very demure but increasingly sleepy, in the moonlight.
“i
am making a collection of birds myself. i have been at it
ever since i was a boy.” (mrs. tilley smiled.) there are
two or three very rare ones i have been hunting for
these five years.
(2) “do you cage ’em up?” asked mrs. tilley doubtfully,
in response to this enthusiastic announcement.
(3) “oh no, they’re stuffed and preserved, dozens and
dozens of them,” said the ornithologist, “and i have shot
or snared every one myself. i caught a glimpse of a
white heron, a few miles from here on saturday, and i
have followed it in this direction. they have never been
found in this district at all. the little white heron, it is,”
and he turned again to look at sylvia with the hope of
select the correct answer.
in what way does sylvia change in the excerpt?
a. she decides that saving the bird is more important than benefiting from the bird’s death.

b. she realizes that honor and loyalty to her family is more important than anything else.

c. she learns that life is full of difficult decisions that must be made.

d. she discovers that other people can be as committed to their ideals as she is.

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Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze Sylvia's change. The excerpt shows Sylvia faces a dilemma about the white heron. Option A says she decides saving the bird is more important than benefiting from its death. This aligns with her internal conflict (not sure if she wants the hunter to find the bird) and the theme of valuing nature over personal gain (or helping the hunter). Option B focuses on family loyalty, but the text doesn't emphasize that over other things. Option C is about life's difficult decisions generally, but the excerpt is about her specific choice regarding the bird. Option D is about others' commitment, which isn't the focus of her change. So A is correct.

Answer:

A. She decides that saving the bird is more important than benefiting from the bird’s death.