良心出品Unit2 Text1 The Struggle to Be an AllAmerican Girl.docx

1、良心出品Unit2 Text1 The Struggle to Be an AllAmerican Girl TEXT The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl Elizabeth WongPre-reading questions1. Some people think living in another culture is not difficult if one assume the right attitude. What do you think?2. What do you thing are the essentials of succes

2、sful cross-cultural communication? 1. Its still there, the Chinese school on Yale Street where my brother and I used to go. Despite the new coat of paint and the high wire fence, the school I knew 10 years ago remains remarkably, stoically the same.2. Every day at 5 p.m., instead of playing with our

3、 fourth- and fifth-grade friends1or sneaking out to the empty lot to hunt ghosts and animal bones, my brother and I had to go to Chinese school. No amount of kicking, screaming or pleading could dissuade my mother2, who was solidly determined to have us learn the language of our heritage.3. Forcibly

4、, she walked us the seven long, hilly blocks from our home to school, depositing our defiant tearful faces before the stern principal. My only memory of him is that he swayed on his heels like a palm tree, and he always clasped his impatient twitching hands behind his back. I recognized him as a rep

5、ressed maniacal child killer, and knew that if we ever saw his hands wed be in big trouble.4. We all sat in little chairs in an empty auditorium. The room smelled like Chinese medicine, an imported faraway mustiness. Like ancient mothballs or dusty closets. I hated that smell. I favored crisp new sc

6、ents. Like the soft French perfume that my American teacher wore in public school.5. Although the emphasis at the school was mainly languagespeaking, reading, writingthe lessons always began with an exercise in politeness. With the entrance of the teacher, the best student would tap a bell and every

7、one would get up, kowtow and chant, “Sing san ho3,” the phonetic for “How are you, teacher?”6. Being 10 years old, I had better things to learn than ideographs copied painstakingly in lines that ran right to left from the tip of a moc but4, a real ink pen that had to be held in an awkward way if blo

8、tches were to be avoided. After all, I could do the multiplication tables, name the satellites of Mars and write reports on “Little Women5” and “Black Beauty6.” Nancy Drew7, my favorite book heroine, never spoke Chinese.7. The language was a source of embarrassment. More times than not, I had tried

9、to dissociate myself from the nagging loud voice that followed me wherever I wandered in the nearby American supermarket outside Chinatown. The voice belonged to my grandmother, a fragile woman in her 70s who could outshout the best of the street vendors. Her humor was raunchy, her Chinese rhythmles

10、s, patternless. It was quick, it was loud, it was unbeautiful. It was not like the quiet, lilting romance of French or the gentle refinement of the American South. Chinese sounded pedestrian. Public.8. In Chinatown, the comings and goings of hundreds of Chinese on their daily tasks sounded chaotic a

11、nd frenzied. I did not want to be thought of as mad, as talking gibberish. When I spoke English, people nodded at me, smiled sweetly, said encouraging words. Even the people in my culture would cluck and say that Id do well in life. “My, doesnt she move her lips fast,” theyd say, meaning that Id be

12、able to keep up with the world outside Chinatown.9. My brother was even more fanatical than I about speaking English. He was especially hard on my mother, criticizing her, often cruelly, for her pidgin speechsmatterings of Chinese scattered like chop suey in her conversation. “Its not What it is, Mo

13、m,” hed say in exasperation. “Its What is, what is, what is!” Sometimes, Mom might leave out an occasional “the” or “a,” or perhaps a verb of being. He would stop her in mid-sentence. “Say it again, Mom. Say it right.” When he tripped over his own tongue, hed blame it on her: “See, Mom, its all your

14、 fault. You set a bad example.”10. What infuriated my mother most was when my brother cornered her on her consonants, especially “r.” My father had played a cruel joke on Mom by assigning her an American name that her tongue wouldnt allow her to say. No matter how hard she tried, “Ruth” always ended

15、 up “Luth” or “Roof.”11. After two years of writing with a moc but and reciting words with multiples of meanings, I finally was granted a cultural divorce. I was permitted to stop Chinese school.12. I thought of myself as multicultural. I preferred tacos to egg rolls; I enjoyed Cinco de Mayo8 more t

16、han Chinese New Year. At last.13. I was one of you; I wasnt one of them.14. Sadly, I still am. 760 wordsGLOSSARY Stoically outshout Dissuade vendor Heritage raunchy Forcibly lit Repressed refinement Maniacal chaotic Faraway frenzied Mustiness gibberish Mothball cluck Closet pidgin Tap smattering Kow

17、tow scatter Chant chop suey Ideograph trip over Painstakingly infuriate Blotch corner Multiplication table consonantHeroine divorceDisassociate permitNagging taco Notes1. Fourth - and fifth friend (Paragraph2) the typical organizational pattern for elementary and secondary school is that of graded s

18、chools. Usually, the elementary school, starting generally at the age of five or six, cover grades 1-8, and secondary school, beginning usually at the age of 12 to 14,covers grades 9-12. Also common is the pattern under which the elementary school covers grades 1-5 or 6, the junior school 6 or 7-9,

19、and the high school 10-12. 2. No amount of kicking, screaming, or pleading could dissuade mother (Paragraph 2) However hard we tired (to refuse to go to Chinese school) by kicking, screaming or pleading, my mother was just not in the least moved 3. “sing san ho” (Paragraph 5) the English transcript

20、for the Chinese characters “先生好”pronounced in Cantonese, a dialect popular among the Chinese immigrants then.4. moc but (Paragraph 4) the English transcript for the Chinese characters “毛笔” pronounced also in Cantonese.5. Little Women (Paragraph 6) published in 1868-1869.writtern by Louisa May Alcott

21、 (1832-1888), is a two- part novel describing essentially the authors own family and its domestic adventures.6. Black Beauty (Paragraph 6) written in 1887 by the British author Anna Sewell, who had a strong love for horse and manage to expose through the book the cruel treatment the horses experienc

22、ed. 7. Nancy Drew (Paragraph 6) one of the several popular childrens fiction series characters created at the beginning of the 20th century by the Statemeyer Syndicate Company under pseudonyms. Nancy was depicted as being bold and independent, gentle and well-mannered, which made her one of the most

23、 popular modern times.8. Cinco de Mayo (Paragraph 12) a commemorative celebration on May 5, among Mexican communication in Mexico and North America, of the Mexico defeat of French troops at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Text comprehensionI. Decide which of the following best states the authors purpo

24、se. A. To tell the author finally was granted a culture divorce. B. To show the ideological difference between the two generations of the authors family. C. To give a vivid picture of a Chinese teenager who was anxious to be Americanized. D. To reveal the determination of some Chinese in the us to h

25、ave their children learn the language of their heritage. . Judge, according to the text, whether the following statements are true or false.1. The Chinese school on Yale Street remains the same as it was ten years ago except for its appearance.2. Every day at 5 p.m., my bother and I would play with

26、fourth-and-fifth-grade friends or sneak out of the empty lot to hunt ghosts and animal bones.3. All of us sat in little chairs in an empty auditorium, where a foul smell like Chinese medicine hung.4. Besides the Chinese language, the school also taught the Chinese way of politeness.5. My favorite le

27、ssons were the multiplication tables and writing reports.6. People thought that Id be adapted to the world outside Chinatown since I was able to speak English so well. . Answer the following questions.1. How did the author and her bother show their reluctance to go to Chinese school?2. What kind of

28、man was the principal in the authors eyes?3. In what way did the author exhibit her preference for American culture over Chinese culture?4. How does the author depict her grandmother in the story?5. What can you infer from the authors description of her brothers attitude toward Chinese culture? . Ex

29、plain in your own words the following sentences take from the text.1. Instead of sneaking out to the empty lot to hunt ghosts and animal bones, my brother and I had to go Chinese school.2. No amount of kicking, screaming, or pleading could dissuade my mother.3. Forcibly, she walked us the seven long

30、, hilly blocks from our to school, depositing our defiant tearful faces before the stern principal.4. In Chinatown, the comings and goings of hundreds of Chinese on their daily tasks sounded chaotic and frenzied.5. He was especially hard on my mother.6. I finally was granted a cultural divorce.7. At

31、 last, I was one of you; I wasnt one of them. Sadly, I still am. Writing strategies This text, in the form of the first-person narration, is develop mainly in a spatial and chronological order. First, the writer provides dynamic and graphic descriptions of the forced walks to the Chinese school, of

32、the stern principal, of the classroom, of the formality with which lessons started, etc. Then, by means of a sharp contrast, the author provides vivid accounts of the language gap between the old generations represented respectively by her mother ad grandfather and the younger generation represented by the author and her brother. It is to be noted that figures of speech such as simile and metaphor are used in some places to achieve impressive effects. The follow