The following text is from Reyna Grande’s 2012 memoir The Distance Between Us. In the text, Grande is reflecting on experiences she had as a child. Abuela Evila is her grandmother, Elida is her cousin, and Mago and Carlos are her siblings.
Every few days, Abuela Evila washed Elida’s hair with lemon water because, according to her, lemon juice cleans the impurities of the hair and makes it shiny and healthy. In the afternoons, she would fill up a bucket from the water tank, pick a few lemons from the tree, and squeeze the juice into the water. Mago, Carlos, and I would hide behind a pink oleander bush and watch their ritual through the narrow leaves. Abuela Evila washed Elida’s hair as if she were washing an expensive silk rebozo.
Which choice best describes the main purpose of the text?
Explanation
Context: The passage (from Grande's memoir) describes Abuela Evila's routine of washing Elida's hair with lemon water every few days—preparing the bucket, picking lemons, squeezing the juice—while the narrator and her siblings watched through the oleander bush. The final simile compares the care to washing a silk rebozo.
Answer: B) To describe a regular occurrence from Grande's childhood
Why? The passage establishes this as a repeated ritual ("every few days"), describes it in specific detail, and presents it through the eyes of the observing children. It's a scene from memory—a regular childhood occurrence.
Traps:
- A) To give an example of a typical interaction between Grande's siblings → the siblings are observers; the scene is about Abuela Evila and Elida, not about Mago, Carlos, and Grande interacting
- C) To illustrate how Grande's relationship with Elida grew over time → no relationship development is shown; this is a static scene of observation
- D) To explain how Grande felt about a location where she spent time as a child → the passage is about a ritual, not Grande's feelings about a place