Read the following passage and answer the question by choosing the correct options:

In September, Sacha Wilkie breathed a sigh of relief when she waved goodbye to her parents in the airport before the 15-hour flight signalling the start of her gap year before university; her mother, in particular, was too controlling. Yes, Sacha promised to phone and email regularly, but she could be economical with the truth.

By February, however, the novelty had worn off. There had been great times, but everything had proved expensive, so Sacha was unable to go on many of the tempting mini-excursions on offer. She was, therefore, grateful to find a top bunk bed in a dormitory at 'Sammy's Place", a hostel in a city on her itinerary. A few weeks' cheap living in a run-down area might avoid the shame of returning home early.

Luckily, Sacha had persuaded her mother to top up her bank account on the pretext that she wanted to do a sub-aqua course. In fact, she needed the cash simply to live. A chaotic and over- crowded information board in the common room of the hostel displayed some scrawled notices of work available to back-packers. She just needed to acquire the right visa, but Jed, the so-called manager, said he would help her get one.

The busy travelling season was imminent, however, and Sammy said she could do a four hours' work a week there, like laundry and mopping floors.

Sacha didn't much relish the prospect of this, but noticed that the other part-time workers didn't really excuse themselves. Maybe she could make enough to buy a share in one of the old cars that were advertised in the hallway. In any case, there were always notices about lifts on offer to exotic, distant locations, requiring only a contribution to fuel costs. At the very least, she'd be able to afford to go on some of the bus tours which picked up people at the hostel each day.

Sacha used the excuse to do a sub-aqua course in order to get money.

to cover her living expenses in the dorm

The correct answer is Option (1) → to cover her living expenses in the dorm

Explanation:
The passage states that Sacha persuaded her mother to top up her bank account on the pretext that she wanted to do a sub-aqua course. However, in reality, she needed the cash simply to live, suggesting that she used the excuse of the sub-aqua course to obtain money for her living expenses in the dormitory at 'Sammy's Place'.