Question

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.

Explanation:

In the excerpt, Tan talks about an achievement - test question. She can't just see the words as they are on the test (like a simple word - relationship pair). Instead, her mind is filled with personal images and meanings (like the image of sunset leading to nightfall). This shows that language is not just a set of rules (like in a test) but is connected to personal meanings and experiences.

Answer:

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