Question

I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief at a Chinese funeral.

My editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral.

Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy(悼词) and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute, weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. She almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.

In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.

Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.

1.At the funeral, ________.

A. five individuals made speeches            

B. the boss’s speech was best thought of

C. the writer was astonished by the scene   

D. everyone was crying out loudly

2.According to the writer, people in the West ________.

A. prefer to control their sadness in public   

B. cry their eyes out at the public funeral

C. are not willing to be sad for the dead     

D. have better way to express sadness

3.It is implied that ________.

A. Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples

B. the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time

C. victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored

D. English funeral culture is more civilized than the others

4.This passage talks mainly about_______.

A. an editor’s death                    B. funeral customs

C. cultural differences                  D. western ways of grief

Answer

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

试题分析: 本文是一篇记叙文，介绍了中西文化的差异。作者在英国长大，所受到的教育是不要在公众场合表露强烈的情感，而当他在出席中国葬礼时，所见到的人们的强烈感情的表露让他非常吃惊。

1.细节理解题。根据文章第一段内容可知作者受文化的影响，不会在公众场合表露强烈的情感，由此推断当作者在中国的葬礼中看到场景会让他非常吃惊，选C。

2.细节理解题。从文章第一段I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public.可知西方人不善于当众表露强烈的感情，选A。

3.推理判断题。根据文章末段内容In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens.可以判断狄更斯时代人们对死者的悲痛之情会通过嚎啕大哭来表露，选B。

4.主旨大意题。本文讲述了作者在中国的葬礼上所看到的场景，然后和西方国家人们情感的引而不发进行了对比，表明了中西文化的不同，选C。

考点：考查社会文化类短文阅读