Heritage and Multicultural American Identities — Test
Question 20 • CMS 2026-2027 English III CREDIT RECOVERY
Read the excerpt from "Mother Tongue." Just last week, I was walking down the street with my mother, and I again found myself conscious of the English I was using, the English I do use with her. We were talking about the price of new and used furniture and I heard myself saying this: “Not waste money that way.” My husband was with us as well, and he didn’t notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why. It’s because over the twenty years we’ve been together I’ve often used that same kind of English with him, and sometimes he even uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with. Which best summarizes the central idea of the excerpt?
Answer
A
Standard forms of English can create connections between people.
B
Nonstandard forms of English can create connections between people.
C
Nonstandard forms of English are most appropriate with family.
D
Standard forms of English are not appropriate to use with family.
Explanation
The speaker uses the nonstandard phrase “Not waste money that way” with her mother, and her husband understands and sometimes speaks the same way. She explains that this shared way of speaking has become their “language of intimacy,” connecting it to family and closeness. This supports the idea that nonstandard English can create connections between people.
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