Behold the Brooklyn Bridge

"They said it couldn't be done, but they did it," Papa kept repeating, almost like he half believed it himself. We had been hearing about the building of the Great East River Bridge for years, with its deals gone bad, workers with illnesses, and defiance of something called physics.

We weren't quite sure what it all meant, except that for now, my sister Rachel and I were putting on our finest dresses and the shoes Mother had polished twice.

Soon we were out the door as a family, going to walk on a bridge taller than the entire city. There were so many people, but we were determined. Our modest Brooklyn family was going to walk high up in the air on the miracle of a bridge to Manhattan.

The sunshine warmed my shoulders as we joined the masses of people walking toward the river. I stretched onto my tiptoes to see the swarm of boats gathering underneath the bridge up ahead. I gasped quietly when I saw the enormous expansion before me. “There it is!” I exclaimed.

“Yes, there’s the Great East River Bridge,” Papa said looking down at me.

We followed the crowd of people funneling onto the bridge to cross into Manhattan. I had to crane my neck backward to look up at the top of the closest tower. My eyes followed the long swooping wires as they stretched down and over to the next tower. The wires shimmered in the sunlight and I was sure they were made of the most precious metal.

The crowd walked unhurriedly, taking in each detail of the new spectacle. As we neared the other side of the river, I saw a group of people chattering excitedly. “Papa, what’s going on there?” I asked curiously.

Papa glanced over toward the crowd. “Why that’s President Arthur himself!” he exclaimed. I thought to myself that it must really be an important day if even the president attended. Looking around at all the people, I was suddenly glad to be wearing my best clothes.

As fireworks went off that evening, I said to Papa, "They really did it, Papa, didn't they?"

"Yes," he said with a smile, "they really did."

Select the correct answer. Which detail from "Behold the Brooklyn Bridge” most clearly demonstrates the danger of building the bridge?

A. the gasping of the narrator
B. the fireworks and attendance of celebrities
C. the shimmering of the wires
D. the sickness of the workers