CLASS 12 · FLAMINGO · CHAPTER 9
Original student-friendly concise and expanded answers for all five comprehension questions in My Mother at Sixty-six.
5 worked answers · short steps first, explanations when you need them
Textbook pages
Question Think It Out 1
Notice what the mother’s tired face makes the poet realise.
Connect this realisation with the poet’s old fear of separation.
She feels love and fear as she sees her mother ageing and worries about losing her.
Question Think It Out 2
Think about the moving car and the view outside.
Explain how the lively trees contrast with the mother.
They appear to race past the moving car; their energy contrasts with the mother’s weakness.
Question Think It Out 3
Identify what the children suggest about youth.
Compare their liveliness with the mother’s condition.
The children represent youthful energy, which contrasts with her mother’s ageing and makes the poet think about time.
Question Think It Out 4
Recall the appearance of a late winter moon.
Connect its paleness with the mother’s face and the poet’s feelings.
The pale winter moon reflects her mother’s colourless, tired appearance and the poet’s concern.
Question Think It Out 5
Notice the contrast between the cheerful farewell and the poet’s private fear.
Explain why she may choose to smile.
Her words and smile reassure her mother, while hiding the poet’s fear and sadness about separation.