Read the following passage carefully.
“Mum!” I shouted. “Are you okay?” I saw her little tent shuddering in the gale and listened closely for her response. Her voice was almost casual: “Oh, yes, I’m fine.” That’s my mother. It was the first night of our cycling trip through the interior of Iceland—a region so remote and inhospitable that for centuries, according to legend, it was abandoned. The weather was decidedly hurricane-like, but Mum wasn’t concerned. Months ago, I told her about my plan to pedal across Iceland. “It will be really difficult,” I said. “The roads are unpaved and often washed out, and the wind is blowing constantly — sometimes so hard that it pushes you off the road.” There was silence for a moment. Then she asked, “Can I come?” “Sure,” I replied. “But like the rest of us, you have to train to do two 160 kilometres a day back-to-back,” “Wow,” she said, “I could never do that.” I had more faith in my mother’s physical abilities than she did. I’d seen her raise six children and put in long hours doing physical labour on our small farm. “Sure you can,” I told her, “Start tomorrow.” What really concerned me was what 1 perceived to be her frustrating humility: I thought her too self-depreciating about her intellect just because she had not completed college. 1 felt she underestimated her attractiveness just because she was not the type to wear makeup or fancy clothes. As I had grown into adulthood, the life I’d chosen seemed light-years away from Mum’s quiet existence, still caring for her children and her children’s children. Sometimes, on a visit home, I’d describe some recent trip I’d taken, and her blue eyes would shine with interest. So I couldn’t help thinking this trek might revitalize Mum, who had started to slow down in her 50s. It might spice up what I saw as her humdrum life. And it might be a boost to her tentative and retiring persona. Mum trained furiously, months in advance. As the trip roster was pared down to Mum, my good friend Allen and me, she stood as the most dedicated. Soon she was riding 80-100 kilometres per day, and was as strong a rider as Allen or I.
On the basis of your reading of the passage, answer the following questions briefly:
(a) How does the narrator describe the weather and road conditions in Iceland?
(b) What training did the adventure cycling trip require? Why did the narrator have faith in his mother’s physical ability to undertake the trip?
(c) In what way did the narrator think the trip would help his mother?
(d) When were the narrator and his friend sure about his mum’s preparation?
(a) The narrator describes the weather in the interior of Iceland to be hurricane-like, along with strong winds blowing constantly and the roads are gravelled and run-down. The area was known to be abandoned and inhabitable.
(b) The training included cycling two 160 kilometers a day, back and forth. The narrator had faith in his mother's abilities to undertake the trip because she had raised six children and spent long hours on their small farm doing physical work.
(c) The narrator thought that the trip would help his mother because it would help to revive his mother's former energy that was fading away with age. It might also brighten up and add spark to her mundane life, by boosting her confidence, and self-esteem which she seemed to lack.
(d) The narrator and his friend were sure about his mum's preparation when she trained energetically for months in advance. Since the only candidates for the trip were the narrator, his mother, and his friend, she stood out as the most enthusiastic member. Very soon she was on par with the narrator and his friend as she rode 80 to 100 kilometers a day, a strong rider.
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