Ji packed up her art supplies just as an orange-pink glow began to light the sky. She decided to walk along the shore and observe the color and light of the sunrise. After several minutes, her gaze traveled to a hulking figure thrust onto the shore—a blue-gray whale heaved labored breaths while a teenage boy with sandy blonde hair scrambled back and forth to the ocean and tried to throw handfuls of seawater onto the whale’s enormous sides. Ji ran to him and said, “Let me help.” “I—I don’t know, no, I don’t have my phone on me,” he said, near tears. “I do!” Ji pulled out her phone, looked up the number to call, the Network for Stranded Marine Mammals, and made the call. At the same time, Asher spied her art supply bin and asked to use it to retrieve buckets of water to pour on the whale. Ji nodded and dumped the contents and handed the bin to Asher, who dashed and sloshed in the water. After making the call, Ji quickly read about digging a trench around the whale, but of course, her stick tunneling felt like she was building a sandcastle mote and not a recess that would fill with water, allowing the whale to float until the tide or help arrived. Question Use the excerpt from the middle of a story to answer the question. This excerpt connects the stories of two otherwise unrelated people, Li and Asher. What is the author’s purpose in making the two stories overlap? (1 point) Responses to underscore the importance of taking action to protect nature to underscore the importance of taking action to protect nature to bring the story to its conclusion after relieving the tension in the story to bring the story to its conclusion after relieving the tension in the story to show that two seemingly different people have much in common to show that two seemingly different people have much in common to show how unusual situations can bring people together to show how unusual situations can bring people together
The author’s purpose in making the two stories overlap is to show that two seemingly different people have much in common. Both Ji and Asher are compelled to help the stranded whale, despite their initial hesitation and lack of resources. This overlap highlights their shared compassion for nature and their willingness to take action to protect it.
