Question

using context to interpret idioms. her daughters would seek her out at night when she seemed to have a moment to talk to them: they were having trouble at school or they wanted her to persuade their father to give them permission to go into the city or to a shopping mall or a movie - in broad daylight, mami! laura would wave them out of her room. “the problem with you girls...” the problem boiled down to the fact that they wanted to become americans and their father - and their mother, too, at first - would have none of it. -“daughter of invention,” julia alvarez. what is the meaning of the idiom underlined in the passage? focused on; exaggerated; was dishonest; forgot a lesson

Explanation:

The idiom "boiled down to" in this context means that the various issues and desires of the daughters (having trouble at school, wanting permission to go out) ultimately came to or were essentially the fact that they wanted to become Americans while their parents were initially opposed. It implies getting to the most important or fundamental point.

Answer:

None of the provided options are correct. The meaning of "boiled down to" is something like "came down to" or "essentially was". If we had to pick from the closest - in - concept option not given here, it would be related to getting to the core or main point, but none of the options "focused on", "exaggerated", "was dishonest", "forgot a lesson" match.