Question

I am a writer. I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke (喚起) an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea, or a simple truth.Language is the tool of my trade. And I use them all—all the Englishes I grew up with.

Born into a Chinese family that had recently arrived in California, I’ve been giving more thought to the kind of English my mother speaks. Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English. But I feel embarrassed to say that. It has always bothered me that I can think of no way to describe it other than“broken”, as if it were damaged and needed to be fixed, as if it lacked a certain wholeness. I’ve heard other terms used, “l(fā)imited English,” for example. But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions(認識)of the limited English speaker.

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “l(fā)imited” English limited my perception of her. I was ashamed of her English. I believed that her English reflected the quality of what she had to say. That is, because she expressed them imperfectly her thoughts were imperfect. And I had plenty of evidence to support me:　the fact that people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, did not give her good service, pretended not to understand her, or even acted as if they did not hear her.

I started writing fiction in 1985. And for reasons I won’t get into today, I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with:　the English she used with me, which for lack of a better term might be described as “broken” ; and what I imagine to be her translation of her Chinese, her internal (內(nèi)在的) language, and for that I sought to preserve the essence, but neither an English nor a Chinese structure. I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show:　her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.

1.. The author used to think of her mother’s English as　　　.

A. impolite　　　　 B. amusing　　　　

C. imperfect　　　　D. practical

2.. Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 3?

A. Americans do not understand broken English.

B. The author’s mother was not respected sometimes.

C. The author’s mother had positive influence on her.

D. Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts.

3. The author gradually realizes her mother’s English is　　　.

A. well structured　　　　　　　　　　　B. in the old style

C. easy to translate　　　　　　　　　　D. rich in meaning

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A. The change of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English.

B. The limitation of the author’s perception of her mother.

C. The author’s misunderstanding of “l(fā)imited” English.

D. The author’s experiences of using broken English.

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.A

【解析】

試題分析:本文是一篇記敘文，在文中作者講述了自己對母親所說語言的態(tài)度轉(zhuǎn)變過程。作者一家是移民到美國的中國人，所以母親說的英語不是地道，優(yōu)雅的美國英語，作者時常會對此感到尷尬。而且母親也因此而受到別人的不恭。但是后來當作者寫作以后，他才逐漸意識到了母親語言中的豐富情感和內(nèi)容。

1. 細節(jié)理解題。A不禮貌的；B好笑的；C有瑕疵的，不完美的；D實際的。根據(jù)文章第二段內(nèi)容Like others, I have described it to people as “broken” English.可知作者認為母親的英語是蹩腳的，是不完美的，選C。

2. 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第三段people in department stores, at banks, and at restaurants did not take her seriously, …… or even acted as if they did not hear her.可知因為蹩腳的英語，作者的母親有時候會受到別人的不尊重，選B。

3. 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章首段內(nèi)容和末段I wanted to catch what language ability tests can never show:　her intention, her feelings, the rhythms of her speech and the nature of her thoughts.可知當作者在寫作中使用母親的語言時，逐漸意識到了母親所使用語言的魅力和內(nèi)涵，故答案選D。

4.主旨大意題。作者在小時候認為母親的語言“broken”，而且提到母親的英語會感到尷尬“ embarrassed”，而后來在他的寫作中卻逐漸意識到了母親所說的樸素語言中的魅力，情感等（如第一段提到it can evoke an emotion, a visual image, a complex idea等），由此判斷作者在本文中主要講述了自己對母親所說語言的態(tài)度轉(zhuǎn)變過程，故答案選A。

考點：考查故事類短文閱讀。