In one of my favorite photographs of my mother, she's about 18 and very tan, with long and blond hair. It's the 1970s and my dad is there, too, hugging her from behind.
I haven't seen this photo for years. I have no idea where it is now, but I still think of it — and, specifically, my mom is in it. She looks so young and innocent. At that time she hasn't yet dropped out of college, or got married. The young woman in this photo has no idea that life will bring her five children and five grandchildren, one divorce, two marriages, and a move across the country.
For me, as for many daughters, the time before my mother became a mother is a string of stories, told and retold: the time she sold her childhood Barbie doll to buy a ticket to Woodstock; the time she worked as a waitress at Howard Johnson's, struggling to pay her way through her first year at Rutgers. The old photos of her are even more appealing than the stories because they're a historical record, carrying the weight of fact, even if the truth there is slippery: the trick of an image, and so much left outside the frame.
It is always a comfort from those photos to know that time, aging and motherhood cannot take away a woman's essential identity. For daughters who closely resemble their moms, it must be an even bigger comfort; these mothers and daughters are twins, separated by a generation, and an oldphoto serves as a kind of mirror.
For daughters, these old photos of our mothers feel like both a chasm and a bridge. The woman in the picture is someone other than the woman we know. She is also exactly the person in the photo—still, right now. Finally, we see that the woman we've come to think of as Mom—whether she's nurturing, or disapproving, or thoughtful, or supportive, or sentimental—is also a mysterious, fun, brave babe.
She's been here all this time.
4. Why does the author still think of the photo of her mother appealing?
A.The photo reminds her of her mother. |
B.Her mother looks young and happy in the photo. |
C.She wonders why her mother dropped out of college. |
D.The photo tells a lot about her mother in her youth. |
5. What does the underlined word "chasm" in Paragraph 5 mean?
A.Bond. | B.Memory. | C.Difference. | D.Relation. |
6. Why do some photos of mothers bring comfort to their daughters?
A.The photos are kept well even after generations. |
B.The photos record the life of the mothers faithfully. |
C.The photos help daughters to learn more about their mothers. |
D.The photos show the essential part of the mothers remain unchanged. |
7. What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.The Pictures of Our Mothers. | B.Our Mothers as We Never Saw Them. |
C.My Favorite Picture of My Mother. | D.The Way to Learn About Our Mothers. |