Instructions
Reread lines 9–19 of the poem. Then answer the multiple-choice questions that follow.

From “My Father Is a Simple Man” by Luis Omar Salinas
He’s sure I’ll be healthy
so long as I eat more oranges,
and tells me the orange
has seeds and so is perpetual;
and we too will come back
like the orange trees.
I ask him what he thinks
about death, and he says
he will gladly face it when
it comes but won’t jump
out in front of a car.
Based on the speaker’s statement in lines 9–10, the reader realizes that—

Answer choices for the above question

A. the speaker is sometimes annoyed by his father’s attempts to control the speaker’s diet.

B. the speaker recognizes that his father loves him and cares about his health.

C. the speaker prefers pomegranates but tries to please his father by eating oranges.

D. the speaker thinks his father does not know that much about balanced diets.
Based on lines 15–16, it is most likely that—

Answer choices for the above question

A. the speaker “thinks about death” and is hoping his father can ease his fears.

B. the speaker thinks the father is afraid of death and is hoping to ease his father’s fears.

C. the speaker respects his father’s wisdom and asks him his thoughts about death.

D. the speaker and his father have had this same conversation many times.
What can you infer about the speaker’s father based on lines 17–19?

Answer choices for the above question

A. The father will avoid the city, because he thinks it is too dangerous.

B. The father has lost a loved one who was in a serious car accident.

C. The father knows that he must die someday, but he will not do risky things.

D. The father hopes to live much longer by staying away from cars.