The fictional Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan was the subject of popular books and movies for many decades. In recent years, however, the character has been criticized as an ill image of Asian-Americans.
Yunte Huang, an English professor at the University of California, says that’s not the case. He has been exploring the character and real-life policeman who inspired him.
Charlie Chan has been a familiar character to readers and film-goers, beginning in the 1920s. The detective solved crimes around the world in more than 40 films through the 1940s, and with the invention of television, found a new audience in the 1950s and 1960s.
Huang discovered Charlie Chan through books by American author Earl Derr Biggers, who created the character.
“One day, I happened to find two Charlie Chan novels. At that point I thought I knew that he was a negative character against Asians, but when I read the book,” he says, “I was immediately attracted. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan of Charlie Chan.”
As a fan of the books and films, Huang was surprised to learn that Charlie Chan was based on a real detective named Chang Apana, who was born to Chinese parents in Hawaii around 1871. Apana worked as a cowboy, and joined the Honolulu police force in 1898.
“He almost immediately became a local legend because as a former cowboy,” says Huang, “he would walk the most dangerous areas in Chinatown carrying a bullwhip（皮鞭）instead of a gun. He didn’t need that.”
Although some say the image of Charlie Chan, with his broken English, is embarrassing for Asian-Americans, Huang believes Chan’s broken English and unusual ancient sayings were part of his charm（魅力）.
“Let me just quote（引用）a few – ‘Actions speak louder than French,’ or ‘Mind like parachute (降落伞). Only function when open.’ Charlie Chan always owes these instructive sayings to Confucius’ eastern wisdom.
For Huang, the fictional Charlie Chan is highly entertaining, while the real-life policeman, Chang Apana, is a Chinese-American success, whose story is worth telling.
【小题1】The passage mainly talks about .A．how Yunte Huang discovered Charlie ChanB．how Charlie Chan became famous in the USC．what Yunte Huang thought of Charlie ChanD．how a cowboy became a famous detective【小题2】According to the passage, we know that Charlie Chan .A．was a character in books and movies based on a real detectiveB．was a famous actor starring in movies beginning from the 1920sC．was a famous detective solving crimes all over the worldD．was a Chinese immigrant who became a local legend【小题3】Chang Apana didn’t need a gun as a weapon because .A．he had his personal charmB．he liked being a cowboyC．he was not a true policemanD．a bullwhip was more useful【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that .A．American author Earl Derr Biggers gave an ill picture of Asian-AmericansB．Yunte Huang believes Charlie Chan represents Asian wisdom in some wayC．Chan’s story was more popular with TV audience than readers and film-goersD．Charlie Chan became an ill image of Asian-Americans when it first appeared.C
网友回答
(答案→)C
解析：几十年来，一位虚构的名叫陈查理的美籍华人侦探是很多畅销书和电影的主人公。不过最近几年，陈查理这个人物被批评为讽刺亚裔美国人的刻板形象。但是，作家黄运特认为这种批评没有道理。在本文黄教授讲述了他如何喜欢上这个人物，分析了陈查理的人物性格以及陈查理在现实生活中的警察原型。
【小题1】主旨大意题。本文主要是讲述黄教授对陈查理这个人物的看法，以此来反驳人们对陈查理这个人物形象的批评。
【小题2】细节理解题。由第一段可知，陈查理是小说和电影中虚构的人物。
【小题3】细节判断题。陈查理与众不同的地方，正是他的个人魅力所在。
【小题4】推理判断题。根据文章的最后两段可知，陈查理这个人物是东方智慧的结晶，也是一个成功的警察形象，因此，他的故事值得一读。