Question

    When I watched the film “The Farewell” recently, I found it not only reminded me of my own family’s great lie, but it also reopened old wounds.

Its main characters tell lies that flow from their mouths smoothly. Billi, a Chinese-American artist in New York, and her grandmother in China, tell lies to each other on the phone. Billi, in cold wind, tells her grandma that she’s wearing a hat. She’s not. Her grandma says she’s visiting her sister, while she’s actually ill in hospital. They’re lying to avoid worrying each other, but in fact the grandma has lung cancer. The family know it but won’t tell her for fear that anxiety over the diagnosis (诊断) could kill her before the cancer.

When I was a teenager girl, my parents, both immigrants, got divorced. We never had a discussion about how things would change. We didn’t tell anyone. Instead, we pretended as  if nothing had happened. My father did not run away; he slept in a separate room. In the presence of relatives, we acted as a close family. I was puzzled why we insisted on creating the illusion(假象) that everything was O.K..

I asked a professor of multicultural psychology. “Asians tend to have indirect communication,” he said, “In indirect communication, what’s not said is more important than what is said. Eastern philosophy emphasizes balance and harmony, and indirect communication minimizes conflict. So some Asian cultures value the ability to understand indirect messages.”

In the film, the family members show their love for grandma by keeping secret about  her condition. Similarly, perhaps my parents intended to save face and preserve harmony. As an Asian-American, maybe all I’ll ever have is a secondhand understanding, and that’s the best I can do.

1.Why does Billi’s grandma tell lies to her according to Paragraph 2?

A.Because she’s afraid of the diagnosis.

B.Because she knows she has lung cancer.

C.Because she doesn’t want Billi to worry.

D.Because she has been used to telling lies.

2.What did the author’s parents do after they got divorced?

A.They left their home. B.They kept secret in public.

C.They had a discussion. D.They asked relatives for help.

3.How did the author feel about her parents’ behavior when she was a teenager?

A.Confused. B.Skeptical.

C.Unconcerned. D.Annoyed.

4.According to the psychology professor, what do Asian cultures attach importance to?

A.Severe conflicts. B.Ability of showing love.

C.Balance and harmony. D.Direct communication.

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.C

【解析】

本文为说明文。文章叙述了亚洲人爱说“善意的谎言”的原因是因为亚洲人看重和谐与平衡。说善意的谎言是为了不让亲人担心，但有时是为了面子。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段“Her grandma says she’s visiting her sister, while she’s actually ill in hospital. They’re lying to avoid worrying each other, but in fact the grandma has lung cancer.”她奶奶说她要去看望她姐姐，而她实际上生病住院了。他们撒谎是为了避免彼此担心。由此可知比利的奶奶对她撒谎是因为她不想让比利为她担心 ，故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段“When I was a teenager girl, my parents, ..., got divorced. ... Instead, we pretended as if nothing had happened. ... In the presence of relatives, we acted as a close family.” 当我还是个十几岁的女孩时，我的父母离婚了。我们没有告诉任何人。相反，我们假装什么都没发生。在亲戚面前，我们像一个融洽的家庭。可知，父母离婚后他们在公开场合是保持秘密的，故选B。

3.推理判断题。根据第二段“When I was a teenager girl, my parents, both immigrants, got divorced. ...In the presence of relatives, we acted as a close family. I was puzzled why we insisted on creating the illusion(假象) that everything was O.K.” 当我还是个十几岁的女孩时，我的父母，离婚了。......在亲戚面前，我们像一个融洽的家庭。我很纳闷，为什么我们坚持要制造一种一切都好的假象。A选项中的confused就是文中的puzzled同义词。由此可知，作者小的时候，对于父母的行为感觉有点迷惑，故选A。

4.细节理解题。根据倒数第二段I asked a professor of multicultural psychology. “Asians tend to have indirect communication,” he said, “In indirect communication, what’s not said is more important than what is said. Eastern philosophy emphasizes balance and harmony,...” 教授认为“亚洲人倾向于间接交流，在间接交流中，不说的比说的更重要。东方哲学重视平衡与和谐”，可知，心理学教授认为亚洲文化重视平衡与和谐。分析选项可知C项符合题意，故选C。