To withstand means to keep, remove, resist, or retreat

the author develops a cold, and scared tone. making the reader shudder with fear, and suddenly become cold. i'm guessing that he's writing a scary novel, or maybe about a chilly december night.

"why don't you like me the way i am? " i cried. "i'm not a genius! i can't play the piano, and even if i could, i wouldn't go on tv if you paid me a million dollars! "

explanation:

the conflict between jing-mei and her mother is over jing-mei's piano lessons since her mother wants her to become a prodigy but she does not want to play it any more.