Read the excerpt from "Daughter of Invention".

But Laura's inventing days were over just as Yoyo's were starting up with her school-wide success. Rather than the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers, Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention. It was as if, after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad and said, "Okay, Cuquita, here's the buck. You give it a shot."

Which context clue provides the best hint for the meaning of the underlined idiom in this excerpt?

But Laura’s inventing days were over
the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers
Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention
after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad

Question

Read the excerpt from "Daughter of Invention".

But Laura's inventing days were over just as Yoyo's were starting up with her school-wide success. Rather than the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers, Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention. It was as if, after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad and said, "Okay, Cuquita, here's the buck. You give it a shot."

Which context clue provides the best hint for the meaning of the underlined idiom in this excerpt?

But Laura’s inventing days were over
the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers
Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention
after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad

Mercury · Answer

I believe the underlined idiom is "here's the buck." (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

Consider the passage as a whole. Laura has now stopped inventing. Her mother is giving Laura's pencil and pad to Cuquita, and saying "you give it a shot (meaning that Cuquita should try inventing). With this context in mind, what do you think "here's the buck" means, and which of the choices provides the most clues as to what it means?