Question

C  I am a writer．I spend a great deal of my time thinking about the power of language—the way it can evoke(唤起) 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, “limited English,” for example．But they seem just as bad, as if everything is limited, including people’s perceptions(认识)of the limited English speaker．

I know this for a fact, because when I was growing up, my mother’s “limited” 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(内在的) 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.By saying “Language is the tool of my trade”, the author means that ______．

A．she is a writer by profession

B．she is fascinated by languages

C．she works as a translator

D．she uses English in foreign trade

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

A．Americans do not understand broken English．

B．Broken English always reflects imperfect thoughts．

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

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

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

A．well structured

B．rich in meaning

C．in the old style

D．easy to translate

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A．The author’s misunderstanding of “limited” English．

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

C．The changes of the author’s attitude to her mother’s English．

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

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.C

【解析】

试题解析：本文主要记叙了作者在不同时期对母亲所使用的语言的不同看法。

1.】此句中the tool of my trade中的trade指的是职业。由本文第一句可知“我”是一名作家；此句又说语言是“我”的职业工具，故此句指的自然是“我”的职业为作家。可知A选项正确。

2.】由文中倒数第二段中“．．．because she expressed them imperfectly，her thoughts were imperfect”一句可知选C，作者一度以为自己妈妈所说的英语是不完美的。可知答案选D。

3.】由最后一段可知，我写小说时开始运用她与我说话时所用的英语。我尽力地保留她语言的精髓，但未运用她所使用的英语或汉语的结构。我想领悟语言能力测试中所不能反映但我妈妈语言中所包含的意思。可知答案B正确。

4.】本文以时间为线索，讲述了作者对妈妈所使用的语言的不同态度，故答案C正确。

考点：人生百味