Question

cphs: literature & comp i - block (23.0616030)
characters, conflict, and idioms in \daughter of invention\ by julia alvarez
from how the garcia girls lost their accents
her daughters would seek her out at night when she seemed to have a moment
to talk to them: they were having trouble at school or they wanted her to
persuade their father to give them permission to go into the city or to a shopping
mall or a movie—in broad daylight, mami laura would wave them out of her
room. \the problem with you girls...\ the problem boiled down to the fact that
they wanted to become americans and their father—and their mother, too, at first
—would have none of it.
\you girls are going to drive me crazy,\ she threatened, if they kept nagging.
\when i end up in bellevue, youll be safety sorry.\
she spoke in english when she argued with them. and her english was a
mishmash of mixed-up idioms and sayings that showed she was \green behind
the ears,\ as she called it.
if her husband insisted she speak in spanish to the girls so they wouldnt forget
their native tongue, shed snap, \when in rome, do unto the romans.\
yoyo, the big mouth, had become the spokesman for her sisters, and she stood
her ground in that bedroom. \were not going to that school anymore, mami!\
\you have to.\ her eyes would widen with worry. \in this country, it is against the
law not to go to school! you want us to get thrown out?\
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
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
the rolling suitcase
everyone else in
the family
remembers

Explanation:

The question is about finding the best context clue for the underlined idiom in a literature excerpt. The subfield of Literature (under Arts) deals with analyzing literary texts, including understanding idioms and context clues. We need to evaluate each option:

• Option 1 ("But Laura’s inventing days were over"): Doesn't relate to the idiom's meaning.
• Option 2 ("the rolling suitcase everyone else in the family remembers"): Irrelevant to the idiom.
• Option 3 ("Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention"): Connects to the idea of "here's the buck. You give it a shot" as Yoyo's mother's last invention (speech) leads to Yoyo taking over, matching the idiom's context of passing responsibility.
• Option 4 ("after that, her mother had passed on to Yoyo her pencil and pad"): Focuses on physical items, not the idiom's meaning.

So Option 3 provides the best clue.

Answer:

1. Yoyo thinks of the speech her mother wrote as her last invention