Refer to explorations in literature for a complete version of this narrative.

read this excerpt from “the final assault” by sir edmund hillary.

…there were hanging some long icicles. i looked at it more closely and found that the outlet tube—about two inches in diameter—was almost completely blocked up with ice…fortunately the outlet tube was made of rubber, and by manipulating this with my hand i was able to release all of the ice and let it fall out.

which statement best describes the author’s purpose in this excerpt?

to entertain readers with an account of a close escape

to describe what it feels like to be with low oxygen

to inform readers about how he solved a problem

to persuade readers to be careful with oxygen masks