Read the extract and answer the following questions.
Extract:
MRS PEARSON: I might. Who d’you think?
DORIS: [staring at her] Mum —what’s the matter with you?
MRS PEARSON: Don’t be silly. DORIS: [indignantly] It’s not me that’s being silly — and I must say it’s a bit much when I’ve been working hard all day and you can’t even bother to get my tea ready. Did you hear what I said about my yellow silk?
MRS PEARSON: No. Don’t you like it now? I never did.
(Mother’s Day)
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Question (i)
List any two sensory details present in this extract.
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
Two sensory details present in this extract are "staring at her" and "indignantly".
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- Sensory details are words or phrases that appeal to one or more of the five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch.
- To find sensory details in a text, we can look for words that describe how something looks, sounds, smells, tastes, or feels.
- In this extract, one sensory detail is "staring at her", which describes how Doris looked at her mother with surprise or suspicion. This appeals to the sense of sight and emotion.
- Another sensory detail is "indignantly", which describes how Doris spoke to her mother with anger or resentment. This appeals to the sense of sound and emotion.
Question (ii)
Complete the sentence appropriately.
The phrase "I never did" suggests that ____________.
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The phrase "I never did" suggests that Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) did not like Doris's yellow silk dress and did not care about her opinion or feelings.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To complete a sentence with an appropriate word or phrase, we need to understand the meaning and context of the sentence.
- In this case, the sentence is about Mrs Pearson's (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) response to Doris's question about her yellow silk dress that she had bought for Mother's Day.
- The phrase "I never did" means that she never liked it or approved of it, which shows her dislike or disapproval of the dress.
- Therefore, we need to fill in the blank with something that explains what this implies or reveals about her attitude or behavior towards Doris's opinion or feelings.
- Based on the extract, we can infer that she did not care about Doris's opinion or feelings, because she dismissed her question and contradicted her preference without any regard or respect for her.
- So, we can complete the sentence with "Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) did not like Doris's yellow silk dress and did not care about her opinion or feelings".
Question (iii)
Explain any one possible inference that can be drawn from the line "you can’t even bother to get my tea ready".
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
One possible inference that can be drawn from this line is that Doris expected and demanded her mother to serve her and do things for her without any appreciation or gratitude.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- An inference is a logical conclusion based on evidence and reasoning from a text.
- To explain an inference, we need to provide both the evidence from the text and our reasoning behind it.
- In this case, the line "you can’t even bother to get my tea ready" is a statement made by Doris to her mother when she came home from work and found that there was no tea prepared for her.
- The evidence from this line is that Doris says that her mother can't even bother to get her tea ready, which means that she thinks that it is a very simple or easy thing to do and that her mother should have done it for her without any excuse or delay.
- Our reasoning behind this inference is that this statement implies that Doris expected and demanded her mother to serve her and do things for her without any appreciation or gratitude, because she used the word "even" to emphasize how little effort or care it would take and she complained about it in an indignant tone as if it was her right or entitlement.
- Therefore, we can explain our inference by saying that this line shows that Doris expected and demanded her mother to serve her and do things for her without any appreciation or gratitude.
Question (iv)
Identify the line from the text that bears evidence to the fact that Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) was more outspoken and honest than Mrs Pearson (who has her own personality).
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The line from the text that bears evidence to the fact that Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) was more outspoken and honest than Mrs Pearson (who has her own personality) is "Don’t be silly".
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To identify a line from the text that supports a fact, we need to look for words or phrases that show or imply the fact.
- In this case, the fact is that Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) was more outspoken and honest than Mrs Pearson (who has her own personality), which means that she was more willing and able to express her thoughts or feelings directly and truthfully.
- The line that shows this fact is "Don’t be silly".
- This line implies that Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) was more outspoken and honest than Mrs Pearson (who has her own personality) by telling Doris not to be silly when she asked her what was the matter with her, which shows that she did not hesitate or sugarcoat her words and that she told her what she really thought of her question.
- Therefore, we can identify this line as the evidence for the fact.
Question (v)
What does the term 'indignantly' indicate about Doris's emotion or reaction to her mother's behavior?
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The term 'indignantly' indicates that Doris's emotion or reaction to her mother's behavior was negative and angry.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To explain what a term indicates about something, we need to define the term and relate it to the context of the text.
- In this case, the term is 'indignantly', which means feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair or unjust treatment.
- The term is used to describe how Doris spoke to her mother when she found out that she had not prepared her tea and had not listened to her question about her yellow silk dress.
- This indicates that Doris's emotion or reaction to her mother's behavior was negative and angry, because she felt or showed resentment or displeasure at how her mother had neglected or ignored her needs or wants.
- Therefore, we can explain what the term indicates by saying that it shows that Doris's emotion or reaction to her mother's behavior was negative and angry.
Question (vi)
Which of the following headlines best suggests the central idea of the extract?
- A Woman's Surprise at Her Mother's Change of Personality
- A Woman's Complaint to Her Mother for Not Doing Her Duties
- A Woman's Dislike of Her Daughter's Yellow Silk Dress
- A Woman's Challenge to Her Daughter's Silly Question
Answer:
Answer as written by the student:
The best headline that suggests the central idea of the extract is (a). A Woman's Surprise at Her Mother's Change of Personality.
Step-by-step explanation: 📝
- To choose the best headline for an extract, we need to consider which one captures the main theme or message of the text.
- In this case, the extract is about a conversation between a mother and a daughter, Mrs Pearson and Doris, who have swapped personalities with their neighbour and friend, Mrs Fitzgerald. Doris is surprised and annoyed by her mother's change of personality and behavior, while Mrs Pearson (who has Mrs Fitzgerald's personality) is indifferent and dismissive of her daughter's complaints and questions.
- The central idea of this extract is how Doris reacts and responds to her mother's change of personality and how it affects their relationship and communication.
- The headline that best reflects this idea is A. A Woman's Surprise at Her Mother's Change of Personality, because it summarizes the main emotion and event in the extract.
- The other headlines are either too specific (C), too general (B), or too irrelevant (D) to convey the central idea of the extract.
