Study Buddy (Explorer): Chinese girl with different coloured eyes embraced by her class
Each week, this page presents a light article with questions to test your comprehension.
A Chinese girl was embraced by classmates despite her different coloured eyes, soothing her mother’s concerns about bullying. Photo: DouyinContent provided by British Council
Read the following text, and answer questions 1-9 below:
[1] A video showing a seven-year-old girl in eastern China with different coloured eyes being welcomed and embraced by her classmates at school has trended on social media. The girl, nicknamed CC, lives in Jiangxi province in southeastern China. Her mother, family name Zou, said her daughter has had heterochromia – different coloured eyes – from birth.
[2] Some years ago, Zou noticed her daughter’s right eye was grey-blue while the left was black. CC would start primary school that September, and Zou was worried her daughter might be bullied and discriminated against because of her condition.
[3] Zou said the concerns were eased because CC’s classmates and teachers all liked her. “They said my daughter’s eyes are beautiful. My girl is popular at school. Even kids from other classes come to play with her,” Zou said in a quote.
[4] Zou has taken CC to a hospital for a check-up, and doctors there have confirmed her eyesight is normal. Congenital heterochromia – present from birth – is rare, with only 0.063 per cent of the population worldwide having the condition. According to Dr Jiang Hong, an associate professor of neurology and ophthalmology, China’s statistics are lower than that.
[5] Sun Zhong, an ophthalmic specialist at Aier Eye Hospital in Wuhan, central Hubei province, said congenital heterochromia is caused by abnormal pigment distribution on the iris. This condition is harmless for most people, with no effect on their eyesight.
[6] After trending on social media, CC responded in an online video posted on December 17. In it, she said: “I like my eyes. I think they are gorgeous. Thank you.”
[7] Her story has resulted in an outpouring of love from Chinese netizens. “Who says someone who looks different is a monster? Beauty does not have to meet one standard,” one online observer said. Another agreed: “It’s so cool to have such special eyes. She is lucky!”
[8] CC is not the first person to gain attention in China for having this eye condition. An 18-year-old girl in Hunan, central China, gained interest online in 2022 because one of her eyes was blue and the other black. She felt inadequate during childhood because people would stare at her. Regardless, she revealed in online videos that she found confidence and accepted her differences after entering secondary school.
[9] The late British singer and songwriter David Bowie was also well known for his different coloured eyes. But Bowie’s case was different from that of the Chinese girls. His eyes were the result of a teenage fist-fight that resulted in anisocoria, a condition in which a person’s pupils are different sizes. This gave his eyes a unique appearance, with one blue and one black.
Source: South China Morning Post, December 30
Questions
1. What colour is CC’s left eye according to paragraph 2?
2. What does “concerns” in paragraph 3 refer to?
3. According to paragraph 3, why were Zou’s concerns eased?
4. In paragraph 4, CC …
A. needs to wear special glasses.
B. has poor vision in her right eye.
C. cannot see very well from her left eye.
D. none of the above
5. Decide whether the following statements about paragraphs 4 and 5 are True, False or the information is Not Given. Fill in ONE circle only for each. (4 marks)
(i) Congenital heterochromia is a common eye condition.
(ii) It is rarer in China to have different coloured eyes than in the rest of the world.
(iii) People with congenital heterochromia are less likely to get eye infections.
(iv) People with congenital heterochromia are usually colour-blind.
6. The reactions mentioned in paragraph 7 are …
A. positive.
B. negative.
C. neutral.
D. critical.
7. How did the teenager mentioned in paragraph 8 feel about her different coloured eyes during her childhood, and why? (2 marks)
8. Find a word in paragraph 8 that refers to “a point or way in which people or things are not the same as the other”.
9. According to paragraph 9, what caused David Bowie’s eyes to become different colours?
Answers
1. Black
2. Zou’s worries that her daughter CC would be bullied or even discriminated against in school because of her eye condition and appearance
3. Her daughter’s classmates and teachers all like her.
4. D
5. (i) F; (ii) T; (iii) NG; (iv) NG
6. A
7. She felt inadequate as a child because people would stare at her.
8. Differences
9. A fist-fight as a teenager that resulted in a condition where his pupils are different sizes