Question

Ms Tan，you've referred to your new novel as your eighth book.

That's because it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one.

●Why do you think you had so many false starts?

I would say that my reasons were wrong：I was trying to prove that I wasn't just a mother?daughter storyteller，or I was trying to prove that I didn't just have to write about things that were strictly Chinese or Chinese?American.Those were never the right reasons for writing those early stories.And I could never come up with other，better reasons for continuing them.

●What kept you going on this book?

This book was different because it was based on my mother's real life.The reason for writing it became more personal and emotional.After The Joy Luck Club came out，my mother was always explaining to people that she wasn't any of the mothers in that book.And at one point she said to me，“Next book tells my true story.”And then she started telling me things I never knew before.She also told me many，many stories，because my mother doesn't generalize.The book really grew out of that.

●Have you ever visited China?

Yes.I've been there twice：about three years ago and then again last November，both times with my mother and my husband.

●Was it difficult to capture the Chinese?American dialect without sounding like a parody(拙劣的模仿)?

No，because it's the language I've heard all my life from my mother.She speaks English as it's direct translation from Chinese.But it's more than that：Her language also has more imagery than English.

●Can you think of an example?

Somebody might say to me，“Don't work so hard.You'll kill yourself.”My mother will say to me，“Why do you press all your brains out on this page for someone else？”So it's very vivid.That's the way she talks.

●Have many readers told you that the Chinese mother in your book reminded them of the typical Jewish(有癖好的)mother?

Many people have told me that.I think the mother?daughter relationship is very intense in both cases.Culturally there is an acceptance that mothers have the power to tell their children，especially their daughters，how to conduct their lives—not simply up until the time they are 18，but for the rest of their lives.However，when children grow up in a different culture from their parents'，they tend to keep more secrets from their parents.The children think，“They just wouldn't understand that I had to do this.”And that can really create a gap，and it can grow as the number of secrets grows.

 

1．Based on the questions in this interview，what do you think Ms Tan's profession is?

A．A journalist.　　　　　　 B．A storywriter.

C．An interviewer. 　　　 D．An interviewee.

2．What's TRUE about Tan's second book?

A．It's about her real life in America.

B．The name of the book is The Joy Luck Club.

C．It is the result of many times of careful thought.

D．It includes many works of her mother.

3．Which question is NOT answered in the interview?

A．How does she think of her mother's language?

B．How many books does she plan to write?

C．When did she visit China?

D．How is generation gap created?

4．The last paragraph mainly talks about ________.

A．how to keep secrets from parents

B．how to deal with the mother?daughter relationship

C．how to conduct the lives

D．how the generation gap comes about

 

 

Answer 1

1-4 BCBD

 

语篇解读：这是一篇人物访谈纪实。通读这篇访谈录，我们可以了解华裔美国作家Ms Tan创作第二部作品的经历。

1．推理判断题。根据文中的“your new novel，a second novel”等关键词及访谈内容可知，Ms Tan是一名小说家。C、D两项有一定的干扰性，注意题干中问的是“profession(职业)”。

2．细节判断题。根据文中的it took me six or seven attempts at a second novel before I started and completed this one可知，Tan在完成这部书的写作之前曾经历过六、七次尝试，说明这本书是她经过多次深思熟虑的产物。

3．细节理解题。“她计划写几本书？”这个问题在文中找不到答案，其他三项文中均有涉及。

4．段落主旨题。此段大意是：传统地认为母亲有教育孩子们一生如何生活的权力，而孩子们随着年龄的增长，他们不愿将自己的秘密告诉父母，从而产生了代沟。因此本段主要阐述的是代沟是如何产生的。