Born in America, I spoke English, not Chinese, the language of my ancestors. When I was three, my parents flashed cards with Chinese 36 at my face, but I pushed them 37 . My mom believed I would learn 38 I was ready. But the  39  never came.
On a Chinese New Year’s Eve, my uncle spoke to me in Chinese, but all I could do was  40  at him, confused, scratching my head. “Still can’t speak Chinese?” He  41  me, “You can’t even buy a fish in Chinatown.”
“Hey, this is America, not China. I’ll get some  42  with or without Chinese.” I replied and turned to my mom for   43  .
“Remember to ask for fresh fish, Xin Xian Yu,” she said, handing over a $20 bill. I  44  the words, running downstairs into the streets of Chinatown.
I found the fish  45  surrounded in a sea of customers. “I’d like to buy some fresh fish,” I shouted to the fishman. But he  46  my English words and turned to serve the next customer. The laugh of the people behind increased  47  their impatience. With every 48  , the breath of the dragons（龙）on my back grew stronger---my blood boiling---  49  me to cry out, “Xian Sheng Yu， please.” “ Very Xian Sheng,” I repeated. The crowd erupted into laughter. My face turned  50  and I ran back home  51  ,expect for the $20 bill I held tightly in my pocket.
Should I laugh or cry? They’re Chinese. I’m Chinese. I should feel right at  52  Instead , I was the joke , a disgrace（丢脸）to the language.
Sometimes , I laugh at my fish      53   , but , in the end .the joke is on    54  . Every laugh is a culture     55   ; every laugh is my heritage （传统）fading away.
36. A. custom           B. games            C .characters .         D. language
37. A. ahead          B. around           C. along              D. aside
38. A. when           B. before           C. unless             D. until
39. A. success          B. study            C. time              D. attempt
40. A. aim            B. joke                   C. nod               D. stare
41. A. cared about     B. laughed at     C. argued with         D. asked after
42. A. right now      B. from now     C. at times            D. in time
43. A. decision        B. permission     C. information         D. preparation
44. A. repeated       B. reviewed      C. spelled             D. kept
45. A. farm            B. stand          C. pond              D. market
46. A. guessed        B. forgot         C. doubted            D. ignored
47. A. by             B. as            C. with               D. from
48. A. second          B. effort          C. desire             D. movement
49. A. forcing        B. allowing      C. persuading         D. leading
50. A. bright         B. blank         C. pale              D. red
51. A. open-mouthed   B. tongue-tied    C. empty-handed       D. broken-hearted
52. A. service         B. home          C. risk               D. root
53. A. trade          B. deed          C. challenge           D. incident
54. A. it             B. us            C. me                D. them
55. A. thrown        B. lost           C. divided            D. reflected