Multiple choice

What does the poet mean by “We must let out the hem”?

Directions: Read the following poem carefully. On the basis of your reading of the poem, complete the given sentences as briefly as possible. write the answers against the correct question number.

FRONTIER LIFE
My stockings have a hole in them,
I'm learning how to darn.
Which means that I am mending them
With needle and some yarn.

Ma says my dress is getting short,
We must let out the hem.
My only shoes have come apart,
And Pa is patching them.

The garden must be weeded,
If we want food to eat.
I pick those scratchy blackberries
So we'll have something sweet.

I help my Pa by milking Bess
And stake her out each day.
I help my Ma by hanging clothes
And watching Sissy play.

I go to bed so tired,
And get up before the sun.
There's always work that's waiting.
It never gets all done.
   
But Ma has made Pa promise
To have a family rule
If there's a teacher hired,
I get to go to school!

                                         

    Cindy Breedlove                                          

                                         

 

  1. There is a need to buy a new dress.

  2. She has to discard the old dress.

  3. The seam has to be opened to make the dress a bit longer.

  4. The dress should be given away to somebody.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

'Letting out the hem' is a sewing term that means undoing the folded and stitched edge of a garment to make it longer. Since the dress 'is getting short' as the child grows, they need to let out the hem rather than buying new clothes - a common frugal practice in resource-poor frontier families.

Keep practicing — related questions