From the excerpt you posted it looks like the writer's primary purpose is to persuade the audience to share his point of view.
This can be seen in phrases like "it seems to me that the decision is easy", where he implies that he has enough knowledge to see something that the Township officials are not seeing.
Answer:
The quest initiates the rising action and Percy's main conflict
Explanation:
The quest introduces Percy's conflict and is what the story centers around for most of the rest of the book.
<span>British government leaders didn't present the Zimmermann telegram to Wilson for a few weeks. Hall reminded them that outrage was growing in America over Germany's announcement late in the day of January 31 that the German navy would resume unrestricted submarine warfare. In fact, that policy provoked the U.S. government to cut diplomatic relations with Germany in February.</span>