Question

I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief(悲伤) at a Chinese funeral.

My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral.

Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy(悼词) and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute(哀悼), weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. At one point, the mother almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.

In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.

Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.

It was our newspaper's production day. We were bussed back to the office to resume work. No more deadlines for our former colleague, but we had to pull together to put the newspaper to print. The boss invited the team to go out for dinner after work. We relaxed, smiled, joked. There was no mention of the funeral or our poor colleague. Enough sorrow had been shed already. We needed a break.

1.The underlined words “stiff upper lip style” in Paragraph 1 mean “________”.

A．cold-blooded      B．warm-hearted  C．light-hearted   D．self-controlled                 

2.At the funeral, ________.      

A. five individuals made speeches

B. the boss’s speech was best thought of

C. the writer was astonished by the scene

D. everyone was crying out loudly

3.According to the writer, people in the West ________.     

A. are not willing to be sad for the dead

B. cry their eyes out at the public funeral

C. prefer to control their sadness in public

D. have better way to express sadness

4.It is implied that ________.  

A. Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples

B. the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time

C. victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored

D. English funeral culture is more civilized than the others

5.This passage talks mainly about________.       

A. an editor’s death            B. bad funeral customs

C. cultural differences          D. western ways of grief               

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.D

3.B

4.A

5.D

【解析】

试题分析：文章大意为：本文主要叙述了作者通过举了同事去世，中国人和亚洲一些国家一样总是为死去的人哭得很悲伤，而英国人不很会为死者哭得很悲伤，他们更喜欢控制他们的情绪，隐藏悲伤。

1.C细节理解题：根据第一段最后一句I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief(悲伤) at a Chinese funeral.作者说她在中国的葬礼上的悲伤倾泻而出，连她自己都没有准备。说明作者是善良的。故C正确。

2.D 推理判断题：根据第三段“Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy”“ came a long-term colleague”“ Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute(哀悼)”共有三个人made a speech 所以A排除；B项没提到；C项第三段第五行“Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably.”可知并不是所有人都大哭；D项从第三段最后一句“At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion. ”可知作者被那场景震惊；故D正确。

3.B 推理判断题根据第四段可知：西方人不是不为死者悲伤，他们会在公共场合控制自己的悲伤，因此A错；C也错；本文也没有说西方人有更好的办法去表达悲伤，说到他们会  把悲伤藏在心底。故D错；根据第四段第一句“In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral.”可知B项正确。

4.A 推断题 根据第五段“people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens.”可知A项正确。

5.D 主旨大意题 本文主要叙述了作者通过举了同事去世，中国人和亚洲一些国家一样总是为死去的人哭得很悲伤，而英国人不很会为死者哭得很悲伤，他们更喜欢控制他们的情绪，隐藏悲伤。旨在强调文化差异。故D正确。

考点：考察文化类短文阅读