Question

Most people who travel from China to the US find that, despite having studied English for years, they have to “re-learn” it upon arriving.

Words that we learned in English classes are not pronounced the same way here. To truly be part of the “melting pot”, fluency in English is not enough. You need an accent to stand out.

When I first came to the US for graduate school, I was a nervous foreigner. I felt so out of place that I wanted to hide everything about me that was “different”. To talk like an American became one of my goals.

During my first term as a teaching assistant (TA), my students complained they could not understand me. I learned later from a study that this complaint was common among US students with an international TA．It is called the “Oh, no!” syndrome (情绪、举动): “Oh，no! Not another international TA, and not that accent again!’’

So I imitated（模仿）the way native speakers talk and, over time, I made such good progress that American friends started to praise my English as having “almost no accent’’. I took this as a sign of my success. Ever since, people have often mistaken me for someone from many places: the Midwest, the West Coast, China, Japan, South Korea. Most frequently, people think I am from California.

Suddenly, conformity ( 一致) was no longer a praise: If I talk like an American ， am I still Chinese? If I lose my Chinese accent, do I also lose my cultural identity? Am I denying my past by being absorbed into a new culture?

Now I realize that a person’s accent is a permanent record of their past cultural experience and it is amark of one’s experience and exposure to different cultures.

As a fourth-year student in the US，I am no longer a nervous foreigner. My nervousness has been replaced by a desire to hold on to my cultural origins. Now I consciously add some Chinese“accent” when I speak．I do not wish to speak “perfect” English because I am proud of who I am.

1.Why does the author think people have to “re-learn” English upon arriving? ( No more than 10 words).

2.How did the author feel when others praised her English? (No more than 5 words)

3.Why did the author decide to speak with a bit of a Chinese “accent”? (No more than 10 words)

4.Please explain the underlined part in English in another way. (No more than 8 words)

5.What is the article mainly about? (No more than 8 words)

Answer 1

1.Because she thinks they need to learn an American accent.

2.She was proud of herself./ She felt she was successful.

3.Because she wanted to keep some of her Chinese identity.

4.A strong will to keep her Chinese culture.

5.The author’s changing attitude towards her Chinese accent.

【解析】本文描写了作者到美国的口音由不纯正到纯正再到不纯正的态度的转变。根据短文回答问题需要注意严格按照格式进行回答，严格按照书面语规范，不可省略助词。同时要注意按照题目限制的词语作答。

1. that we learned in English classes are not pronounced the same way here. To truly be part of the “melting pot”, fluency in English is not enough. You need an accent to stand out.我们在英语课堂上所学的单词，在这里发音却并不同。想要真正的成为“大熔炉”的一部分，英语流利是不够的，你需要突出口音。从这里看出，之所以要重新学习的理由是因为口音的问题。Why句式的回答为Because……，题目要求限制在10个字以内，符合题意即可。

2. took this as a sign of my success. 在作者得到表扬之后，她认为这是一种成功的迹象。要求在5个词之内作答，调整原句，增删词语，符合题意即可。

3. 第六段作者产生了疑问If I talk like an American ， am I still Chinese? If I lose my Chinese accent, do I also lose my cultural identity? 如果我说话像美国本地人，那我还是中国人么？如果我失去了我的中国口音，我也失去了我的文化印记么？作者担心的正是，如果继续说美国口音的英语，是不是会失去了自己文化印记。题目要求限制10个字以内，符合题意即可。

4. a desire to hold on to my cultural origins一种保留我的文化起源的想法。题目要求换种说法，限制在8个词之内，符合意思即可。

5.

考点：考察记叙文阅读