Born in America, I spoke English, not Chinese, the language of my ancestors. When I was three, my parents flashed cards with Chinese  21  at my face, but I pushed them  22  . My mom believed I would learn  23  I was ready. But the  24  never came.
On a Chinese New Year’s Eve, my uncle spoke to me in Chinese, but all I could do was 25 at him, confused, scratching my head. “Still can’t speak Chinese?” He  26  me , “You can’t even buy a fish in Chinatown .”
“Hey, this is America, not China. I’ll get some   27  with or without Chinese.” I replied and turned to my mom for  28  .
“Remember to ask for fresh fish, Xin Xian Yu,” she said, handing over a $20 bill. I  29  the words, running downstairs into the streets of Chinatown.
I found the fish  30  surrounded in a sea of customers. “I’d like to buy some fresh fish,” I shouted to the fisherman. But he  31  my English words and turned to serve the next customer. The laugh of the people behind increased  32  their impatience. With every  33  ,the breath of the dragons on my back grew stronger—my blood boiling—  34  me to cry out. “ Xian Sheng Yu, please.” “Very Xian Shen ,” I repeated. The crowd erupted into laughter. My face turned  35  and I ran back home  36  , except for the $20 bill I held tightly in my pocket.
Should I laugh or cry? They’re Chinese. I should feel right at  37  . Instead, I was the joke , a disgrace (丢脸)to the language.
Sometimes, I laugh at my fish  38  , but, in the end, the joke is on  39  . Every laugh is a culture  40  ; every laugh is my heritage (传统) fading away.

A．custom B．games C．characters D．language

A．ahead B．around C．along D．aside

A．when B．before C．unless D．until

A．success B．study C．time D．attempt

A．aim B．joke C．nod D．stare

A．cared about B．laughed at C．argued with D．asked after

A．right now B．from now C．at times D．in time

A．decision B．permission C．information D．preparation

A．repeated B．reviewed C．spelled D．kept

A．farm B．stand C．pond D．market

A．guessed B．forget C．doubted D．ignored[来

A．by B．as C．with D．from

A．second B．effort C．desire D．movement

A．forcing B．allowing C．persuading D．leading

A．bright B．blank C．pale D．red

A．open-mouthed B．tongue-tied C．empty-handed D．broken-hearted

A．service B．home C．risk D．root

A．trade B．deed C．challenge D．incident

A．it B．us C．me D．them

A．thrown B．lost C．divided D．reflected