题目内容
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When I was growing up in America, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. 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.
My mother has long realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on the phone to pretend I was she. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人). I said in an adolescent voice that was not very convincing, "This is Mrs. Tan.”
And my mother was standing beside me, whispering loudly, "Why he don’t send me check, already two week late.”
And then, in perfect English I said, "I’m getting rather concerned. You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived. "
Then she talked more loudly. "What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss. "And so I turned to the stockbroker again, "I can’t tolerate any more excuse. If I don’t receive the check immediately, I am going to have to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week. "
The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.
When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.
【小题1】Why was the author’s mother poorly served?
A.She was unable to speak good English. | B.She was often misunderstood. |
C.She was not clearly heard. | D.She was not very polite. |
A.good at pretending | B.rude to the stockbroker |
C.ready to help her mother | D.unwilling to phone for her mother |
A.they forgave the stockbroker | B.they failed to get the check |
C.they went to New York at once | D.they spoke to their boss at once |
A.It confuses her. | B.It makes her ashamed |
C.It helps her understand the world. | D.It helps her bear rude people. |
A.is clear and natural to non-native speakers |
B.is interesting and straight to non-native speakers |
C.leaves a very bad impression on America |
D.may bring inconvenience in America |
Some people are lucky enough to be born with a good sense of direction and even if they have only visited a place once, they will be able to find it again years later.
I am one of those unlucky people who have poor sense of direction and I may have visited a place time after time but I still get lost on my way there. When I was young I was so shy that I never dared ask complete strangers the way and so I used to wander round in circles and hope that by some chance I would get to the place I was heading for.
I am no longer too shy to ask people for direction, but I often receive replies that puzzle me. Often people do not like to admit(承认)that they didn’t know their hometown and will insist on telling you the way, even if they do not know it; others, who are anxious to prove that they know their hometown very well, will give you a long list of directions which you can not possibly hope to remember, and still others do not seem to be able to tell between their left and their right and you find in the end that you are going in the opposite(相反的)direction to that in which you should be going.
If anyone ever asks me the way to somewhere, I always tell them I am a stranger to the town in order to avoid giving them wrong direction but even this can have embarrassing results.
Once I was on my way to work when I was stopped by a man who asked me if I would direct him the way to the Sunlight Building. I gave my usual reply, but I had not walked on a few steps when I realized that he had asked for directions to my office building. However, at this point, I decide it was too late to turn back and search for him out of the crowd behind me as I was going to meet with someone at the office and I did not want to keep him waiting.
Imagine my embarrassment when my secretary showed in the very man who had asked for directions of my office and his astonishment when he recognized me as the person he had asked.
1.What is the writer going to do when someone asks him for direction?
A.He will direct the right way to the person willingly.
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B.He will reply to it by the means of being a stranger to the town.
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C.He will give the very person long list of direction.
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D.He is going to show the man an opposite direction. |
2.Why did the writer consider himself to be an unlucky dog?
A.Because of his poor sense of direction. |
B.Because he always forget the way to home. |
C.Because he did not have any friend. |
D. Because he used to be shy and dared not ask others the way. |
3.How did the visitor feel when he was showed into the very room?
A.He felt strange. |
B.He felt embarrassed. |
C.He felt very sad. |
D.He felt astonished. |
4.Who showed the right way to the interviewee according to the passage?
A.Someone we don’t know. |
B.The writer did it for himself.
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C.The secretary did so. |
D.A warm-hearted old lady did itI. |