Question

Read the excerpt about Annie Londonderry from Chapter 4 of Wheels of Change.

1 Finally, on June 25, 1894, she was off. 2 She pedaled to New York, over good roads and bad, in eight days, but with stops to rest and earn money, she didn't reach Chicago, Illinois, until September 24. 3 It had taken her three months to travel approximately 1,300 miles, and she had more than 20,000 miles left to cover.

4 Annie Londonderry thought about giving up, but instead made some changes, trading her heavy skirts for bloomers and her Columbia bike for a much lighter men's Sterling. 5 She also decided to head east, riding back to New York and crossing the Atlantic on an ocean liner. 6 Annie traveled largely by ship through Europe, the Mideast, and Asia, taking short cycling trips at various points along the route. 7 She reached San Francisco, California, on March 23, 1895, and pedaled to Chicago to complete the journey.

What would remain unclear if the writer had not included the statistic in sentence 3?

when Annie would complete the trip
why Annie made the changes she did
where Annie’s trip would officially end
what Annie did as she made the trip

Answer 1

why Annie made the changes she did

Without the "more than 20,000 miles left" statistic, readers wouldn't understand that she needed lighter gear for the very long distance remaining.