Question

read the excerpt from \mother tongue.\

lately, ive 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.

how does tan build a central idea of her story in the excerpt?

• tan discusses her thoughts about language to build the idea that the english language does not have words to match some chinese terms
• tan discusses her relationship with her mother to build the idea that mothers and daughters in all cultures often have misunderstandings
• tan discusses her mother’s use of english to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard
• tan discusses the english language to build the idea that there is a lack of appropriate synonyms for the word \broken\

Explanation:

The excerpt is from "Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan. The key is to analyze how Tan builds the central idea. The first option is incorrect as the excerpt doesn't discuss Chinese terms. The second option is wrong as the focus is on language, not mother - daughter misunderstandings across cultures. The fourth option is incorrect as the main idea isn't about synonyms for "broken". The third option is correct because Tan talks about her mother's non - standard English (called "broken" or "fractured") and implies that even though it's non - standard, it has purpose and meaning (she winces at calling it broken as if it's damaged, showing it has value).

Answer:

C. Tan discusses her mother’s use of English to build the idea that a form of language can be purposeful and meaningful even if it is nonstandard.