Question

adapted from young peoples pride by stephen vincent benet the crowe house was both small and inconveniently situated—it was twenty minutes from the station and the crowes had no car. it was the last road that had any pretense to sparse grass and a stubbly hedge, and beyond it were sand dunes, delusively ornamented by the signs of streets that existed only in the brain of the owner of the \development.\ olivers key clicked in the lock, and fortunately, this was one of the times when four-year-old jane had omitted to put the chain on the door before sublimously to bed. oliver switched on the hall light and picked up a folded note from the card tray. \ted – oliver and dickie will share the sleeping porch, unless ted prefers the third-story bathtub,\ the note read. \breakfast at convenience for those who want it. and dont wake dickie up – mother.\ oliver passed it to ted, who read it, grinned, and saluted, nearly knocking over the hat rack. \ted,\ said oliver in a piercing whisper, \jane will think youre an intruder!\ both listened frantically for a moment, holding their breath, but there was no sound from upstairs except an occasional soft rumbling. oliver had often wondered what would happen if the whole sleeping family chanced to breathe in and out in unison some unlucky night. he could see the papery walls blown apart like a soap bubble. 4 which detail best shows that ted understands his mothers authority? a. \oliver and dickie will share the sleeping porch...\ b. both listened frantically for a moment, holding their breath c. oliver passed it to ted, who read it, grinned, and saluted d.
emember, if you wake dickie, youve got to tell him stories...\

Explanation:

To determine which detail shows Ted understands his mother’s authority, we analyze each option:

• Option A: This is the content of the mother’s note, not Ted’s response to it, so it doesn’t show his understanding of her authority.
• Option B: This describes Oliver and Ted listening for sounds from upstairs, which is related to Jane’s reaction, not Ted’s response to his mother’s authority.
• Option C: Ted reads the note (from his mother), grins, and salutes. Saluting can be seen as a playful or respectful acknowledgment of his mother’s instructions (like following her request about not waking Dickie), showing he understands and respects her authority.
• Option D: This is not part of the given text (the text provided doesn’t have this quote), so it’s invalid.

Among the valid options, Option C best shows Ted’s understanding of his mother’s authority through his response to her note.

Answer:

C. Oliver passed it to Ted, who read it, grinned, and saluted