1. how does the author show us that ralph is finally beginning to face the
realities of their existence?

Ralph begins to show maturity.At times he put others before himself.He wants to show somewhat of his true identity and he is just wanting to show off.In life there are some bumps in the road and this is one of them for the boys

the answer is a.

explanation:

the clause "looking toward the south" modifies "a funnel cloud." it's not really the cloud that's "looking," but grammatically, that clause is modifying the cloud.