1 . A widow with a fish to fry
A YOUNG WOMAN WALKS INTO THE BATHROOM of her Beijing apartment. She plans to ask her husband about their coming vacation, but notices he's facedown in their bathtub. Jokingly, she asks him if he's trying to wash his hair. No answer. He's dead.
These first pages of An Yu's novel, Braised Pork, sound like a domestic thriller. The dead husband . A fancy apartment. And a wife who shows that even if she's shocked by the unexpected death, she wasn't happy with her marriage to begin with. Yu writes, “He had betrayed（背叛）and deserted her."
But then, as she waits for the ambulance, Jia Jia discovers a picture of a strange fish-man left near her bathtub. She remembers her husband describing the creature on a trip to Tibet—it had shown up in a dream. Jia Jia doesn't know it yet, but the drawing will take her miles from home, changing what she knows to be true about herself. It's this experience that changes Braised Pork into an original narrative（叙事）one that doesn't fit into any genre（体裁）.
As JiaJia picks up the pieces of her life, she wonders how much of herself she suppressed （压 抑）to please her husband. She was once an artist, but her husband discouraged her from running after her dream. Now she can explore those desires alone, though .
ANOTHER AUTHOR might have chosen to follow a young widow on a journey of finding love after loss. But 28-year-old Yu smartly decides not to. Instead, she uses Jia Jia as a way to explore the anxiety of contemporary womanhood. Jia Jia does want to find love again, which is only a small part of the story. Yu leaves room for her to begin a more material search: uncovering the meaning behind the picture beside her husband's dead body.
There are some images that make us so uncomfortable. It's impossible to look away from them. For JiaJia, it's the fish-man at first, and then more memories of the past, which interrupt her present. In Braised Pork, Yu raises questions about why we keep an eye on those moments-and how they might relate to the company we wish for.
1. What's the genre of the novel Braised Pork?| A．Mystery. | B．Narrative. |
| C．Domestic thriller. | D．None of the above. |
| A．lonely and suppressed. | B．innocent but unlucky. |
| C．humorous and independent. | D．talented and passionate. |
| A．Jia Jia and Yu both wish for company |
| B．Jia Jia would rather live in the past than in the future |
| C．Yu uses Jia Jia to explore the anxiety of contemporary womanhood |
| D．The novel is mainly about a young widow finding her true love after loss |
| A．Yu uses uncomfortable images to catch reader's attention. |
| B．The picture of a strange fish-man will take Jia Jia away from home . |
| C．Jia Jia can take up art again after her husband's unexpected death. |
| D．Jia Jia isn't satisfied with her marriage due to her husband's betrayal. |
2 . Everyone gathered around and Paddy read out loud, slowly, his tone growing sadder and sadder. The little headline said: BOXER RECEIVES LIFF SENTENCE.
Frank Cleary, aged 26, professional boxer, was today found guilty of the murder of Albert Gumming, aged 32, laborer, last July. The jury (陪审团) reached its decision after only ten minutes, recommending the most severe punishment to the court. It was, said the Judge, a simple case. Cumming and Cleary had quarreled violently at the Harbour Hotel on July 23rd and police saw Cleary kicking at the head of the unconscious Gumming. When arrested, Cleary was drunk but clear-thinking.
Cleary was sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour. Asked if he had anything to say, Cleary answered, “Just don’t tell my mother.”
“It happened over three years ago,” Paddy said helplessly. No one answered him or moved, for no one knew what to do. “Just don’t tell my mother,” said Fee numbly (麻木地). “And no one did! Oh, God! My poor, poor Frank!”
Paddy wiped the tears from his face and said. “Fee, pack your things. We’ll go to see him.”
She half-rose before sinking back, her eyes in her small white face stared as if dead. “I can't go,” she said without a hint of pain, yet making everyone feel that the pain was there. “It would kill him to see me. I know him so well — his pride, his ambition. Let him bear the shame alone, it’s what he wants. We’ve got to help him keep his secret. What good will it do him to see us?”
Paddy was still weeping, not for Frank, but for the life which had gone from Fee’s face, for the dying in her eyes. Frank had always brought bitterness and misfortune, always stood between Fee and himself. He was the cause of her withdrawal from his heart and the hearts of his children. Every time it looked as if there might be happiness for Fee, Frank took it away. But Paddy’s love for her was as deep and impossible to wipe out as hers was for Frank.
So he said, “Well, Fee, we won’t go. But we must make sure he is taken care of. How about if I write to Father Jones and ask him to look out for Frank?”
There was no excitement in the eyes, but a faint pink stole into her cheeks. “Yes, Paddy, do that. Only make sure he knows not to tell Frank we found out. Perhaps it would ease Frank to think for certain that we don’t know.”
1. Paddy cried because he thought ________.| A．what had happened to Frank was killing Fee |
| B．Frank should have told Fee what had happened |
| C．Frank did kill someone and deserved the punishment |
| D．Frank had always been a man of bad moral character |
| A．Fee was so heart-broken that she could hardly stand up |
| B．Fee didn’t want to upset Paddy by visiting Frank |
| C．Fee struggled between wanting to see Frank and respecting his wish |
| D．Fee couldn’t leave her family to go to see Frank |
| A．The jury and the judge agreed on the Boxer’s Sentence of Life Imprisonment. |
| B．Frank didn’t want his family to know the sentence to him, most probably out of his pride. |
| C．The family didn’t find out what had happened to Frank until 3 years later. |
| D．The police found Gumming unconscious, heavily struck by Frank. |
| A．Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s brother. |
| B．Frank is Fee’s lover and Paddy is Fee’s husband. |
| C．Frank is Fee’s brother and Paddy is Fee’s lover. |
| D．Frank is Fee’s son and Paddy is Fee’s husband. |
