Unit2 Text1 The Struggle to Be an AllAmerican Girl.docx

Unit2 Text1 The Struggle to Be an AllAmerican Girl.docx

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Unit2Text1TheStruggletoBeanAllAmericanGirl

TEXT

Ⅰ

TheStruggletoBeanAll-AmericanGirl

ElizabethWong

Pre-readingquestions

1.Somepeoplethinklivinginanothercultureisnotdifficultifoneassumetherightattitude.Whatdoyouthink?

2.Whatdoyouthingaretheessentialsofsuccessfulcross-culturalcommunication?

1.It'sstillthere,theChineseschoolonYaleStreetwheremybrotherandIusedtogo.Despitethenewcoatofpaintandthehighwirefence,theschoolIknew10yearsagoremainsremarkably,stoicallythesame.

2.Everydayat5p.m.,insteadofplayingwithourfourth-andfifth-gradefriends1orsneakingouttotheemptylottohuntghostsandanimalbones,mybrotherandIhadtogotoChineseschool.Noamountofkicking,screamingorpleadingcoulddissuademymother2,whowassolidlydeterminedtohaveuslearnthelanguageofourheritage.

3.Forcibly,shewalkedusthesevenlong,hillyblocksfromourhometoschool,depositingourdefianttearfulfacesbeforethesternprincipal.Myonlymemoryofhimisthatheswayedonhisheelslikeapalmtree,andhealwaysclaspedhisimpatienttwitchinghandsbehindhisback.Irecognizedhimasarepressedmaniacalchildkiller,andknewthatifweeversawhishandswe'dbeinbigtrouble.

4.Weallsatinlittlechairsinanemptyauditorium.TheroomsmelledlikeChinesemedicine,animportedfarawaymustiness.Likeancientmothballsordustyclosets.Ihatedthatsmell.Ifavoredcrispnewscents.LikethesoftFrenchperfumethatmyAmericanteacherworeinpublicschool.

5.Althoughtheemphasisattheschoolwasmainlylanguage—speaking,reading,writing—thelessonsalwaysbeganwithanexerciseinpoliteness.Withtheentranceoftheteacher,thebeststudentwouldtapabellandeveryonewouldgetup,kowtowandchant,“Singsanho3,”thephoneticfor“Howareyou,teacher?

”

6.Being10yearsold,Ihadbetterthingstolearnthanideographscopiedpainstakinglyinlinesthatranrighttoleftfromthetipofamocbut4,arealinkpenthathadtobeheldinanawkwardwayifblotchesweretobeavoided.Afterall,Icoulddothemultiplicationtables,namethesatellitesofMarsandwritereportson“LittleWomen5”and“BlackBeauty6.”NancyDrew7,myfavoritebookheroine,neverspokeChinese.

7.Thelanguagewasasourceofembarrassment.Moretimesthannot,IhadtriedtodissociatemyselffromthenaggingloudvoicethatfollowedmewhereverIwanderedinthenearbyAmericansupermarketoutsideChinatown.Thevoicebelongedtomygrandmother,afragilewomaninher70swhocouldoutshoutthebestofthestreetvendors.Herhumorwasraunchy,herChineserhythmless,patternless.Itwasquick,itwasloud,itwasunbeautiful.Itwasnotlikethequiet,liltingromanceofFrenchorthegentlerefinementoftheAmericanSouth.Chinesesoundedpedestrian.Public.

8.InChinatown,thecomingsandgoingsofhundredsofChineseontheirdailytaskssoundedchaoticandfrenzied.Ididnotwanttobethoughtofasmad,astalkinggibberish.WhenIspokeEnglish,peoplenoddedatme,smiledsweetly,saidencouragingwords.EventhepeopleinmyculturewouldcluckandsaythatI'ddowellinlife.“My,doesn'tshemoveherlipsfast,”they'dsay,meaningthatI'dbeabletokeepupwiththeworldoutsideChinatown.

9.MybrotherwasevenmorefanaticalthanIaboutspeakingEnglish.Hewasespeciallyhardonmymother,criticizingher,oftencruelly,forherpidginspeech—smatteringsofChinesescatteredlikechopsueyinherconversation.“It'snot'Whatitis,'Mom,”he'dsayinexasperation.“It's'Whatis,whatis,whatis!

'”Sometimes,Mommightleaveoutanoccasional“the”or“a,”orperhapsaverbofbeing.Hewouldstopherinmid-sentence.“Sayitagain,Mom.Sayitright.”Whenhetrippedoverhisowntongue,he'dblameitonher:

“See,Mom,it'sallyourfault.Yousetabadexample.”

10.Whatinfuriatedmymothermostwaswhenmybrothercorneredheronherconsonants,especially“r.”MyfatherhadplayedacrueljokeonMombyassigningheranAmericannamethathertonguewouldn'tallowhertosay.Nomatterhowhardshetried,“Ruth”alwaysendedup“Luth”or“Roof.”

11.Aftertwoyearsofwritingwithamocbutandrecitingwordswithmultiplesofmeanings,Ifinallywasgrantedaculturaldivorce.IwaspermittedtostopChineseschool.

12.Ithoughtofmyselfasmulticultural.Ipreferredtacostoeggrolls;IenjoyedCincodeMayo8morethanChineseNewYear.Atlast.

13.Iwasoneofyou;Iwasn'toneofthem.

14.Sadly,Istillam.

760words

GLOSSARY

Stoicallyoutshout

Dissuadevendor

Heritageraunchy

Forciblylit

Repressedrefinement

Maniacalchaotic

Farawayfrenzied

Mustinessgibberish

Mothballcluck

Closetpidgin

Tapsmattering

Kowtowscatter

Chantchopsuey

Ideographtripover

Painstakinglyinfuriate

Blotchcorner

Multiplicationtableconsonant

Heroinedivorce

Disassociatepermit

Naggingtaco

Notes

1.Fourth-andfifthfriend（Paragraph2）thetypicalorganizationalpatternforelementaryandsecondaryschoolisthatofgradedschools.Usually,theelementaryschool,startinggenerallyattheageoffiveorsix,covergrades1-8,andsecondaryschool,beginningusuallyattheageof12to14,coversgrades9-12.Alsocommonisthepatternunderwhichtheelementaryschoolcoversgrades1-5or6,thejuniorschool6or7-9,andthehighschool10-12.

2.Noamountofkicking,screaming,orpleadingcoulddissuademother…（Paragraph2）Howeverhardwetired（torefusetogotoChineseschool）bykicking,screamingorpleading,mymotherwasjustnotintheleastmoved…

3.“singsanho”（Paragraph5）theEnglishtranscriptfortheChinesecharacters“先生好”pronouncedinCantonese,adialectpopularamongtheChineseimmigrantsthen.

4.mocbut（Paragraph4）theEnglishtranscriptfortheChinesecharacters“毛笔”pronouncedalsoinCantonese.

5.LittleWomen（Paragraph6）publishedin1868-1869.writternbyLouisaMayAlcott（1832-1888）,isatwo-partnoveldescribingessentiallytheauthor’sownfamilyanditsdomesticadventures.

6.BlackBeauty（Paragraph6）writtenin1887bytheBritishauthorAnnaSewell,whohadastrongloveforhorseandmanagetoexposethroughthebookthecrueltreatmentthehorsesexperienced.

7.NancyDrew（Paragraph6）oneoftheseveralpopularchildren’sfictionseriescharacterscreatedatthebeginningofthe20thcenturybytheStatemeyerSyndicateCompanyunderpseudonyms.Nancywasdepictedasbeingboldandindependent,gentleandwell-mannered,whichmadeheroneofthemostpopularmoderntimes.

8.CincodeMayo（Paragraph12）acommemorativecelebrationonMay5,amongMexicancommunicationinMexicoandNorthAmerica,oftheMexicodefeatofFrenchtroopsattheBattleofPueblain1862.

Textcomprehension

I.Decidewhichofthefollowingbeststatestheauthor’spurpose.

A.Totelltheauthorfinallywasgrantedaculturedivorce.

B.Toshowtheideologicaldifferencebetweenthetwogenerationsoftheauthor’sfamily.

C.TogiveavividpictureofaChineseteenagerwhowasanxioustobeAmericanized.

D.TorevealthedeterminationofsomeChineseintheustohavetheirchildrenlearnthelanguageoftheirheritage.

Ⅱ.Judge,accordingtothetext,whetherthefollowingstatementsaretrueorfalse.

1.TheChineseschoolonYaleStreetremainsthesameasitwastenyearsagoexceptforitsappearance.

2.Everydayat5p.m.,mybotherandIwouldplaywithfourth-and-fifth-gradefriendsorsneakoutoftheemptylottohuntghostsandanimalbones.

3.Allofussatinlittlechairsinanemptyauditorium,whereafoulsmelllikeChinesemedicinehung.

4.BesidestheChineselanguage,theschoolalsotaughttheChinesewayofpoliteness.

5.Myfavoritelessonswerethemultiplicationtablesandwritingreports.

6.PeoplethoughtthatI’dbeadaptedtotheworldoutsideChinatownsinceIwasabletospeakEnglishsowell.

Ⅲ.Answerthefollowingquestions.

1.HowdidtheauthorandherbothershowtheirreluctancetogotoChineseschool?

2.Whatkindofmanwastheprincipalintheauthor’seyes?

3.InwhatwaydidtheauthorexhibitherpreferenceforAmericancultureoverChineseculture?

4.Howdoestheauthordepicthergrandmotherinthestory?

5.Whatcanyouinferfromtheauthor’sdescriptionofherbrother’sattitudetowardChineseculture?

Ⅳ.Explaininyourownwordsthefollowingsentencestakefromthetext.

1.Insteadof…sneakingouttotheemptylottohuntghostsandanimalbones,mybrotherandIhadtogoChineseschool.

2.Noamountofkicking,screaming,orpleadingcoulddissuademymother.

3.Forcibly,shewalkedusthesevenlong,hillyblocksfromourtoschool,depositingourdefianttearfulfacesbeforethesternprincipal.

4.InChinatown,thecomingsandgoingsofhundredsofChineseontheirdailytaskssoundedchaoticandfrenzied.

5.Hewasespeciallyhardonmymother.

6.Ifinallywasgrantedaculturaldivorce.

7.Atlast,Iwasoneofyou;Iwasn’toneofthem.Sadly,Istillam.

Writingstrategies

Thistext,intheformofthefirst-personnarration,isdevelopmainlyinaspatialandchronologicalorder.First,thewriterprovidesdynamicandgraphicdescriptionsoftheforcedwalkstotheChineseschool,ofthesternprincipal,oftheclassroom,oftheformalitywithwhichlessonsstarted,etc.Then,bymeansofasharpcontrast,theauthorprovidesvividaccountsofthelanguagegapbetweentheoldgenerationsrepresentedrespectivelybyhermotheradgrandfatherandtheyoungergenerationrepresentedbytheauthorandherbrother.Itistobenotedthatfiguresofspeechsuchassimileandmetaphorareusedinsomeplacestoachieveimpressiveeffects.

Thefollowingquestionsmaybemootedfor