I can hear the waterfall!” Bethany yelped as she ran up the trail.

Question

Sure enough, around the bend, Taylor and Aden came upon their destination, Hidden Cave Falls.

Aden opened his guidebook. “Apparently,” he said, “the falls have been too dangerous to walk behind for 50 years.” He closed the book and added, “Last year, we had hardly any rain. The falls don’t look so dangerous now, do they?”

Aden was right. Taylor could see a rock ledge behind the falls.

Bethany had found it, too. “Let’s check this out!” she yelled. “Maybe bandits stashed their money there!”

Taylor laughed, but her words got him curious about the “hidden cave” in the waterfall’s name. “You two wait here,” he said, “and I’ll check that it’s safe.”

“Not fair,” Bethany whined angrily.

“He’s the oldest,” Aden said, “so he should go.”

His heart pounding, Taylor clung to the wall behind the falls. Suddenly, his hand felt only air, and he fell into a hole. As he picked himself up, he discovered an old sack beside him. Reaching in, he pulled out a gold coin!

Just then, he heard a deafening crash, and the rock ledge crumbled into the pool, 10 feet below!

Taylor had no way out but to jump. He stuffed the coin in his pocket, grasped the sack, and leaped into the pool.

The second he hit the water, he knew the sack would pull him down, so he let it sink. Coughing, he came to the surface, and his friends helped him out.

“Let’s not tell anyone,” Bethany suggested after hearing Taylor’s story and seeing the coin.

The boys agreed. They would save it for storytelling around a campfire—“The Legend of Hidden Cave Falls”—only they would know it wasn’t a legend at all. In paragraph 12, how does Taylor's behavior contribute to the story's plot?
Responses

A Letting go of the coins allows Taylor to swim to safety.Letting go of the coins allows Taylor to swim to safety.

B His jump leads his friends to think he found something.His jump leads his friends to think he found something.

C Jumping into the pool causes the rock ledge to crumble.Jumping into the pool causes the rock ledge to crumble.

D Letting go of the coins suggests Taylor will come back for them.

Answer 1

A. Letting go of the coins allows Taylor to swim to safety.

This response accurately captures how Taylor's decision to let go of the sack allows him to break free from the danger of being pulled down and enables him to swim to safety with his friends.