Refer to Explorations in Literature for a complete version of the narrative.

Read this excerpt from "Goodbye to All That" by Joan Didion.

I was late to meet someone but I stopped at Lexington Avenue and bought a peach and stood on the corner eating it and knew that I had come out of the West and reached the mirage. I could taste the peach and feel the soft air blowing from a subway grating on my legs and I could smell lilac and garbage and expensive perfume and I knew that it would cost something sooner or later—because I did not belong there, did not come from there—but when you are twenty-two or twenty-three, you figure that later you will have a high emotional balance, and be able to pay whatever it costs.

Which statement best explains how the imagery in the excerpt affects the meaning of the text?

It conveys to the reader the youthful optimism and confidence that Didion felt during her first years in New York.
It emphasizes the idea that things are available to Didion in New York that would not be available to her elsewhere.
It describes for the reader the moment when Didion realized that she would soon have to leave New York.
It suggests to the reader that Didion knew, even when she first arrived in New York, that coming to the city was a mistake.