Question

So now on nights when my mother presented her tests, I performed listlessly, my head propped on one arm. I pretended to be bored. And I was. I got so bored that I started counting the bellows of the foghorns out on the bay while my mother drilled me in other areas. The sound was comforting and reminded me of the cow jumping over the moon. And the next day, I played a game with myself, seeing if my mother would give up on me before eight bellows. After a while I usually counted only one, maybe two bellows at most. At last she was beginning to give up hope.

–“Two Kinds,”
Amy Tan

Which inferences about the daughter does this passage best support? Check all that apply.

Her primary motive is to count bellows.
She wants her mother to feel differently about her.
She feels a strong need for independence.
She is motivated by the fun of playing a game.
She wants to influence her mother’s behavior.

Answer 1

Selections that are best supported:

- She wants her mother to feel differently about her.
- She is motivated by the fun of playing a game.
- She wants to influence her mother’s behavior.

Why: she deliberately pretends to be bored and plays a game to see if her mother will “give up on me before eight bellows,” which shows she’s trying to affect her mother’s response/feelings and is doing it partly for the amusement of the game. The passage does not support that counting bellows is her primary motive, nor does it clearly show a strong need for independence.