Growing up in the USA, I was ashamed of my mother’s Chinese English. Because of her English, she was often treated unfairly. 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.
My mother has realized the limitations of her English as well. When I was fifteen, she used to have me call people on phone to pretend I was her. I was forced to ask for information or even to yell at people who had been rude to her. One time I had to call her stockbroker (股票经纪人). I said in a young voice that was not very convincing, “This is Mrs. Tan.”
And my mother was standing beside me, whispering loudly, “Why he don’t send me cheek already two week lone.”
And then, in perfect English I said: “I’m getting rather concerned .You agreed to send the check two weeks ago, but it hasn’t arrived.”
Then she talked more loudly. “What he want? I come to New York tell him front of his boss.” And so I turned to the stockbroker again, “I can’t tolerate any more excuse. If I don’t receive the check immediately, I am going to speak to your manager when I am in New York next week.”
The next week we ended up in New York. While I was sitting there red-faced, my mother, the real Mrs. Tan, was shouting to his boss in her broken English.
When I was a teenager, my mother’s broken English embarrassed me. But now, I see it differently. To me, my mother’s English is perfectly clear, perfectly natural. It is my mother tongue. Her language, as I hear it, is vivid, direct, and full of observation and wisdom. It was the language that helped shape the way I saw things, expressed ideas, and made sense of the world.
Why was the author’s mother poorly served?
A. She was too shy to speak clearly
B. She couldn’t make herself understood.
C. She was unable to speak good English.
D. She was not a native America.
From Paragraph 2, we know that the author was .
A. good at pretending
B. rude to other people
C. ready to help her mother
D. unwilling to phone for her mother
After the author made the phone call, .
A. they forgave the stockbroker
B. they failed to get the check
C. they went to New York immediately
D. telephone the stockbroker’s manager
What does the author think of her mother’s English now?
A. It confuses her.
B. It embarrasses her.
C. It helps her understand the world.
D. It helps her tolerate rude people.
We can infer from the passage that Chinese English .
A. is clear and natural to non-native speakers
B. is vivid and direct to non-native speakers
C. has a very bad reputation in America
D. may bring inconvenience in America