Esperanza's started out as what kind of business?

• A. Laundromat / coin laundry
• B. Coffee shop
• C. Bookstore
• D. Gardening service

Answer: (A)

The thing being tested here is recalling the exact origin of Esperanza's business from the story and understanding how that starting point shapes its later growth. The text identifies Esperanza's as a laundromat, a coin-operated laundry, which is a straightforward, low-overhead kind of business to start. That starting point makes sense because it can generate steady cash flow from routine, daily visits without needing a large staff or complex inventory, setting up a plausible path for expansion later on.

Seeing it as a laundromat helps explain why this would be described as the initial form of the business and why it’s the best fit for how Esperanza’s is portrayed early on. The other options—coffee shop, bookstore, or gardening service—would imply very different setups, equipment, and customer routines that aren’t indicated in the text.