Read this excerpt (paragraphs 13-14) from Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad. Then answer the follow-­up questions.

Ben could tell wonderful stories, too. So could her mother, Old Rit, though Rit’s were mostly from the Bible. Rit told about Moses and the children of Israel, about how the sea parted so that the children walked across on dry land, about the plague of locusts, about how some of the children were afraid on the long journey to the Promised Land, and so cried out: “It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Old Rit taught Harriet the words of that song that the slaves were forbidden to sing, because of the man named Denmark Vesey, who had urged the other slaves to revolt by telling them about Moses and the children of Israel. Sometimes, in the quarter, Harriet heard snatches of it, sung under the breath, almost whispered: “Go down, Moses. . . .” But she learned the words so well that she never forgot them.

Part A
Which of the following statements can you infer from this excerpt?

A. Ben had not read the Bible as Old Rit had.

B. The children of Israel were afraid on the long journey to the Promised Land.

C. Slaves were forbidden to sing “Go Down, Moses” because it was a religious song.

D. The slaves identified with the story of Moses because he had helped the children of Israel escape from slavery.

Part B
Which of these phrases or sentences from the excerpt provides textual evidence for the inference you chose in Part A?

A. “But she learned the words so well that she never forgot them.”

B.“. . . Denmark Vesey, who had urged the other slaves to revolt by telling them about Moses and the children of Israel.”

C. “‘It had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.’”

D. “Old Rit taught Harriet the words of that song that the slaves were forbidden to sing . . . . ”