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. A. made | B. spotted | C. accompanied C. piano C. across C. room C. pulled C. picking C. forgot C. whispered C. go C. breaking C. up C. Luckily C. transformed C. concert C. Which C. always C. causes C. But C. away C. voice | D. called D. lesson D. through D. table D. divided D. getting D. delayed D. looked D. give D. taking D. around D. Hurriedly D. grew D. film D. When D. usually D. results D. Though D. out D. song | ||||
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| Mrs Jones was very fond of singing. She had a good voice, 1 some of her high notes sounded like a gate which someone had forgotten to 2 . Mrs Jones was very conscious (清楚的) of this 3 , and took every 4 she could find to 5 these high notes. As she lived in a small house, where she could not practise without 6 the rest of the family, she 7 went for a long walk along the country roads 8 she had time, and practiced her high notes there. Whenever she 9 a car or a person coming along the road, she stopped and 10 until she could no longer be heard 11 she started singing again. One afternoon, however, a fast open car came up behind her 12 and so fast that she didn"t hear it until it was 13 a few meters from her. She was singing her highest and most difficult notes at the time, and as the car 14 her, she saw an 15 expression suddenly come over 16 driver"s face. He put his brakes (刹车) on, and as soon as the car stopped, jumped out and began to 17 all his tyres (轮胎) carefully. Mrs Jones did not dare to tell him 18 the noise he had heard had really been, 19 he got back into his car and drove off as 20 as he had been when he stopped. | |||||||
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