Read the excerpt from The Dark Game. On January 16, 1917, in a clear attempt to convince the Mexican government to help Germany in the war, Arthur Zimmermann, the German foreign secretary, sent a telegram to Count von Bernstorff, the German ambassador in Washington. The foreign secretary wanted to be certain that this message reached von Bernstorff, so he made arrangements for it to be carried aboard a U-boat to Sweden and from there to Washington through diplomatic channels. As luck would have it, the departure of the sub was delayed. Impatient, Zimmermann turned to his second option: sending the message to his ambassador through the U. S. State Department. Although Wilson considered the United States to be neutral, he allowed messages to be sent to von Bernstorff via the State Department as a courtesy. The telegram sent, Zimmermann waited for a reply. What Zimmermann didn't know was that the British were doing a thorough job of intercepting German wireless transmissions. Why did Zimmermann choose to send the message through the U. S. State Department? The German U-boat was grounded because it needed repairs. The Americans planned to enter the war and side with the Germans. The content of the message was extraordinarily important. The safest way of transmitting messages was by telegram.

(20 points) passage: this year will be a record-breaking year for storms 1it looks like 2012 will be a year for the record books. thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes have increased across the country. the storms' high winds and heavy rains are making history. early tornado and hurricane seasons 2in march, not usually a busy month for tornadoes, the south and midwest had a large number of twisters. warm weather made conditions ripe for the creation of tornadoes. on some days, twisters dropped from the sky by the dozen. 3hurricane season also came early. two tropical storms hit the southeast in may. two more strong storms followed in june. severe thunderstorms 4many states that have escaped tornadoes and hurricanes have had severe thunderstorms. these giant storms dumped several inches of rain and caused flooding across the northeast and midwest. 5the end of hurricane season is months away, and this year's storm count and rainfall amounts could leave 2011 in the dust. forecasters say the wet, windy weather might stick around until fall. labor day parade rained out 6there is no joy in green town, where the annual labor day parade was called off because of heavy rain. the town's mayor says the parade hasn't been rained out in fifty years. 7a strong band of thunderstorms hit green town on sunday. more than two inches of rain fell each hour. by monday morning, main street looked more like a creek than a parade route. mayor nora bell said she had to call off the parade. "the heavy rains have created a serious safety issue in green town," she said. 8the loss of the labor day parade is green town's second disappointment this summer. in may, the memorial day parade was also called off because of rain. "this must be one of the wettest summers in history," mayor bell said. 9according to the national weather service, mayor bell is right. this summer will break rainfall records in green town and across the country. question: who would obtain the most useful information from the passage? a) someone planning a holiday picnic. b) someone interested in documenting annual meteorological patterns. c) an advocate for the green town labor day parade. d) someone who wishes to do research on the alleged truth of the "global warming" phenomenon.