Question

unit 11: short stories
read the following passage from “the paper menagerie,” and answer the questions to the best of your ability.

now i had someone to talk to. i would teach you my language, and we could together remake a small piece of everything that i loved and lost. when you said your first words to me, in chinese that had the same accent as my mother and me, i cried for hours. when i made the first zhezhi animals for you, and you laughed, i felt there were no worries in the world. i wished my parents could be here, so that i could cook for them and you grew a little, and now you could even help your father and me talk to each other. i was really at home now. i finally found a good life. but my parents were no longer around. you know what the chinese home now. i finally found a good life. but my parents were no longer around. you know what the chinese think, and the saddest feeling in the world? it’s for a child to finally grow the desire to take care of his parents, only to realize that they were long gone. but your chinese eyes, which are my eyes. i know that you do not like your chinese hair, which is my hair. but can you understand how much joy your very existence brought in me? and you can understand when you stopped talking to me and won’t let me talk to you in chinese? i felt losing everything all over again. the pain makes it hard to write.
why won’t you talk to me, son?

1. according to the passage, which moment first made jack’s mother feel she was creating a home with her son?

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a. when jack learned to walk
b. when jack spoke his first words in chinese
c. when jack began helping his parents communicate
d. when she made zhezhi animals for jack

1. based on the passage, jack’s mother is best described as someone who:

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a. tries to get away from her identity once jack is born.
b. struggles to communicate affection to jack
c. finds deep comfort and identity in sharing her culture with her son
d. wishes she had never left her homeland

1. as used in the underlined sentence, the phrase “losing everything” refers to the mother’s sense of:

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a. misplacing the zhezhi animals
b. failing to meet jack’s expectations of her
c. losing her ability to speak chinese fluently
d. reliving the profound grief she felt when her parents die

1. the overall tone of the passage is best described as:

rl.9-10
a. detached
b. humorous
c. sorrowful
d. impatient

Explanation:

1. Question 24: The passage states the mother wanted to share her language with Jack starting when he was young, and her first zhezhi animals were made for him as a bonding/cultural sharing moment when he was new to the home.
2. Question 25: The mother laments Jack rejecting her Chinese language and culture, struggling to connect and communicate affection to her now distant son.
3. Question 26: "Losing everything" refers to the mother losing her connection to Jack, her ability to share her culture, and the close relationship they once had, centered on her fading ability to communicate with him in her native language.
4. Question 27: The passage has a mournful, grieving tone as the mother mourns her lost bond with her son.

Answer:

1. d. When she made zhezhi animals for Jack
2. b. struggles to communicate affection to Jack
3. c. losing her ability to speak Chinese fluently
4. c. sorrowful