Read the passage
Blake glanced around the dining table at his family. He would miss them during his trip to Australia, but he suspected that the
excitement of a month in a foreign environment would hold homesickness at bay.
"So are you going to come back as a famous writer?" asked his younger brother.
"The grand prize is a college scholarship in a writing program, but truthfully the only thing I'm planning on is returning to lowa as a
better writer," Blake replied.
Blake didn't feel that he lacked self-confidence, but rather he felt that his attitude was realistic. He felt grateful for the opportunity and
the chance to go on this adventure. If he won the scholarship, it would simply be icing on the cake.
On the other side of the Atlantic, Siobhan assessed whether she had packed a sufficient supply of clothes and, determining that she
had, decidedly closed her suitcase. She couldn't be more prepared for her journey.
For years, she had dreamed of an opportunity to participate in this writing contest in Australia. Winning the scholarship would mean
the difference between going on to university after graduation and going to work in her uncle's shop in Galway. Siobhan was determined to
stay focused on the goal and not be distracted by social interactions with the other writers and the allure of tourist treks into the outback.
Siobhan was not about to let her tenacity wane when she was so close to the prize.
Which statement describes how the author uses parallel plots to develop the characters in the passage?
O1. Parallel plots create a sense of expectancy about what will happen to each character in Australia.
O2. Parallel plots emphasize the contrast between the ambitions and motivations of each of the main characters.
O3. Parallel plots allow the reader to better understand how the characters will feel when they are away from home.
O4. Parallel plots set a tone of mystery and suspense about how the characters have become involved in their conflict.