Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue."Those tests were constructed around items like fill-in-the-blank sentence completion, such as “Even though Tom was ______, Mary thought he was _____.” And the correct answer always seemed to be the most bland combinations of thoughts, for example, “Even though Tom was foolish, Mary thought he was ridiculous.” Well, according to my mother, there were very few limitations as to what Tom could have been and what Mary might have thought of him. So I never did well on tests like that. How does Tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt?

Tan discusses the types of questions on achievement tests to support the idea that the tests limit students’ ability to write well.

Tan explains a question on a language achievement test to support the idea that the tests should include more interesting content.

Tan gives an example of her experience with achievement tests to support the idea that they are not always accurate measures of language ability.

Tan considers how her mother might answer a question on a test to support the idea that nonstandard English limits a person’s ability to communicate.

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Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue."Lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” or “fractured” English. But I wince when I say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no other way to describe it other than “broken,” as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness and soundness. What best supports the inference that Tan believes nonstandard English is no less valid than standard English?

Tan spends a lot of time thinking about her mother’s “fractured” English.

Tan has trouble thinking of descriptive words when she is writing.

Tan’s education in the US makes it difficult for her to understand her mother.

Tan winces when she describes her mother’s English as “broken.”

Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue." And sure enough, the following week there we were in front of this astonished stockbroker, and I was sitting there red-faced and quiet, and my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting at his boss in her impeccable broken English.Which information from the excerpt best supports the inference that all forms of English can be effective forms of communication?

Tan uses “red-faced” to describe herself when her mother is speaking.

Tan uses the phrase “the real Mrs. Tan” to refer to her mother.

Tan uses the word “shouting” to describe her mother’s tone of voice.

Tan uses the word “impeccable” to describe her mother’s English.

Which best summarizes one central idea of the passage from "Mother Tongue"?

All forms of the English language are meaningful and purposeful.

Some forms of the English language do not translate well into writing.

The English language would be more efficient with a Chinese structure.

English language proficiency can only be determined through testing.

Which best summarizes one central idea of the passage from "Mother Tongue"?

The way a person speaks English is nobody’s business but family members.

The way a person speaks English is not noticed by business professionals.

The way a person speaks English is not a good measure of intellectual ability.

The way a person speaks English is the best criteria for a career choice.

Which best summarizes one central idea of the passage from "Mother Tongue"?

The expression of experience through language is more powerful when different forms of English are accepted.

Only someone with a strong background in standard English can express ideas in interesting ways.

Only someone with a strong background in different forms of English can truly be an expert on the English language.

The expression of experience through language is more powerful when only the standard form of English is accepted.

Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue."Yet some of my friends tell me they understand 50 percent of what my mother says. Some say they understand 80 to 90 percent. Some say they understand none of it, as if she were speaking pure Chinese. But to me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It’s my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, full of observation and imagery. That was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed things, made sense of the world. How does Tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt?

Tan describes her friends’ understanding of her mother to support the idea that nonstandard forms of English should only be used in the home.

Tan uses numerical data to support the idea that nonstandard forms of English are on the decline and being replaced by one standard form.

Tan tells a story about her mother’s life to support the idea that learning the language of a new country comes naturally to most people.

Tan discusses her mother’s English to support the idea that the language of one’s childhood is a person’s deepest, truest form of expression.

Nonstandard forms of English can be as effective as the standard form of English.

Nonstandard forms of English limit a speaker’s ability to stand up for herself.

Nonstandard forms of English make communication difficult between cultures.

Nonstandard forms of English are used more by older adults than by younger adults.

Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue."Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: “Not waste money that way.” My husband was with us as well, and he didn’t notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It’s because over the twenty years we’ve been together I’ve often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with. What can be inferred from the excerpt?

Tan believes that nonstandard English can make family communication difficult.

Tan believes that nonstandard English can be an important part of family culture.

Tan believes that the use of nonstandard English is a way to keep family business private.

Tan believes that the use of nonstandard English must be guarded against in public.

Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue."And here you would be presented with a list of four possible pairs, one of which showed the same kind of relationship: red is to stoplight, bus is to arrival, chills is to fever, yawn is to boring. Well, I could never think that way. I knew what the tests were asking, but I could not block out of my mind the images already created by the first pair, “sunset is to nightfall”—and I would see a burst of colors against a darkening sky, the moon rising, the lowering of a curtain of stars.How does Tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt?

Tan gives an example of a test question to support the idea that more efforts must be made in the home to expose children to standard English.

Tan relates a story about taking an achievement test to support the idea that English curricula must be structured more like math curricula.

Tan discusses achievement tests to support the idea that language cannot be separated from the personal meanings and experiences attached to it.

Tan describes her experience with achievement tests to support the idea that published authors are most qualified to write test questions for students.

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