Read this excerpt from a short story. Liam navigated the busy park, scanning the crowd for his friends. They had agreed to meet at the water slide, and soon the towering steps came into view. He spotted Rachel and Marco by the inner tubes, and soon the three were racing to the top of the slide. There were over a hundred wooden stairs to climb, but the friends usually climbed them without pause. This time, however, their progress was slowed by a surprising mid-day crowd. Spiraling up the stairs were dozens of eager park patrons, each gripping a slippery tube. Liam shook his head and told his friends they would need a little more patience than usual waiting for their favorite view from the top. What complication is introduced in the excerpt? Marco is unable to locate his friends in the busy park. The slide’s wooden stairs are in need of repair. Marco and his friends have to wait in a long line. Park patrons are not following the rules of the slide.

Marco and his friends have to wait in a long line.

Explanation:

A complication is any form of an obstacle of conflict that hinders the progress of work or aim. It may be in the form of an emotional barrier or even a physical barrier, as long as it prevents the character/ characters from achieving their goal or desired aim.

In the given scene, Marco and his friend decided to meet at the water slide. Once together, they went up the wooden stairs, which hardly pose a problem for them for they had been through it numerous times. But this time, the movement up the stairs was a task in itself not because of the sheer number of stairs it'll take them to reach the top, but because of the number of people in the crowd. Their efforts to get to the top were "slowed down by a surprising mid-day crowd dozens of eager park patrons". Liam's statement that "they would need a little more patience than usual waiting for their favorite view from the top" reveals their progress is slow and will take them a while to navigate the long line to get to the top.

Thus, the complication here seems to be that Marco and his friends have to wait in a long line to get to their destination.

in the short story the slip-over sweater by jesse stuart, the main character and narrator shan is friends with grace, an intelligent girl he has known since childhood and with whom he used to be in love.

at the beginning of the story, shan believes he’s no longer in love with grace, but loves jo-anne instead. in order to buy a slip-over sweater and have jo-anne wear it so that the other students would know she loved him too, shan takes a loan at the bank.

while jo-anne is wearing shan’s sweater, his friend grace starts to wear another popular boy’s one, roy’s sweater. because of that, the other students begin to pay attention to grace and compliment her perseverance and effort. they admire her for walking 5 miles to school every day, despite the weather, and still getting the best grades. shan, who knows all of that for a fact, says, as the narrator, ‘and i knew she had the durability and the toughness of a storm-battered mountain oak.’ he compares his friend’s strength – not only physical, but also of character – to an oak tree, whose wood is known for being sturdy.

as the story goes on, shan changes his behavior out of concern for the debt he has to pay at the bank. his new girlfriend jo-anne never asks him what is wrong nor offers any sort of . instead, she breaks up with shan for not being as fun as she thought he was supposed to be. grace, however, not only asks about shan’s problem, but him make the money he needs. shan can’t but notice how different the girls are and what a wonderful person grace is.   even though he used to find jo-anne prettier at the beginning of the story, he now says, ‘grace was as beautiful as our mountain was in april, prettier than a blossom of wild phlox or a mountain daisy.’ his comparing grace to a mountain or something that exists on a mountain (such as a mountain oak or daisy) certainly has important meaning since shan loves the mountain and everything about it and he knows the mountain thoroughly. shan also loves and knows grace as completely as he does the mountain.

the answer is "began" because it is a action that can be done