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.

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

Explanation:

Upon hearing "sunset is to nightfall" Tan immediately creates a visual image of how she sees the sunset turning into nightfall - a burst of colors against a darkening sky, the moon rising, the lowering of a curtain of stars.

11-32. the main character in the parable, the forgiving father, whose character remains constant throughout the story, is a picture of god. in telling the story, jesus identifies himself with god in his loving attitude to the lost. the younger son symbolizes the lost (the tax collectors and sinners of that day, luke 15: 1), and the elder brother represents the self-righteous (the pharisees and teachers of the law of that day, luke 15: 2). the major theme of this parable seems not to be so much the conversion of the sinner, as in the previous two parables of luke 15, but rather the restoration of a believer into fellowship with the father. in the first two parables, the owner went out to look for what was lost (luke 15: 1-10), whereas in this story the father waits and watches eagerly for his son's return. we see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred (luke 15: 1-7), to one in ten (luke 15: 8-10), to one in one (luke 15: 11-32), demonstrating god’s love for each individual and his personal attentiveness towards all humanity. we see in this story the graciousness of the father overshadowing the sinfulness of the son, as it is the memory of the father’s goodness that brings the prodigal son to repentance (romans 2: 4).