Question

hs: literature & comp i - block (23.0616030)
characters, conflict, and idioms in \daughter of invention\ by julia alvarez
\daughter of invention\
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 safely 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.\
yo yo, the big mouth, had been one 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?\
\you want us to get killed? those kids were throwing stones today!\
\sticks and stones dont break bones,\ she chanted. yoyo could tell, though, by the look
on her face, it was as if one of those stones the kids had aimed at her daughters had hit
er. but she always pretended they were at fault. \what did you do to provoke them? if
they
read the excerpt from \daughters of invention\
\¡ya, ya!\ she waved them out of her room at last. \there is no use trying to drink spilt
milk, thats for sure.\
what does laura mean to express to her daughters?
she does not want to
dwell on something that
cannot be changed.
she wishes that she had
becn the one to patent
the suitcase with wheels.
she intends to invent
many more useful things
she can patent.
she wants her daughters
to learn from her
mistakes

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze Laura's statement "There is no use trying to drink spilt milk, that’s for sure" (the idiom "don't cry over spilt milk" means not dwelling on what can't be changed). The option "She does not want to dwell on something that cannot be changed" matches this meaning. Other options: "She intends to invent many more useful things she can patent" is about inventing, not the idiom. "She wants her daughters to learn from her mistakes" misinterprets the idiom. "She wishes that she had been the one to patent the suitcase with wheels" is unrelated to the spilt milk idiom.

Answer:

She does not want to dwell on something that cannot be changed