A Chinese couple tried to name their baby “@”, saying the character best represents their love for the child, according to an official trying to standardize the national language. The unusual name stands out especially in Mandarin, which has no alphabet (字母表) and instead uses tens of thousands of multi?stroke (多笔画的) characters to represent words. “The whole world uses it to write emails, and translated into Chinese it means ‘love him’,” the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.

While the @ symbol is familiar to Chinese email users, they often use the English word “at” to sound it out. With a drawn?out “t”, this sounds something like “ai ta”, or “love him”, to Mandarin speakers. Li says the name is an extreme example of people’s increasingly adventurous approach to Mandarin, as commercialization and the Internet break down conventions (习俗).

Another couple tried to give their child a name that in English sounds like “King Osrina”.

Li did not say if officials accepted the “@” name. But earlier this year the government announced a ban on names using Arabic numerals (阿拉伯数字) and foreign languages. Sixty million Chinese face the problem that their names use ancient characters so uncommon that computers cannot recognize them and even fluent speakers are left scratching their heads, said Li, according to a report on the government website. One of them is the former Premier Zhu Rongji, whose name has a rare “rong” character that gives newspaper editors headaches.

1.Why did the Chinese couple try to name their baby “@”?

A. Because they wanted their baby to have a special name.

B. Because they wanted their baby to have an international name.

C. Because the @ symbol is familiar to email users all over the world.

D. Because the @ symbol sounds something like “ai ta”, which means “love him” in Chinese.

2.It can be inferred that ___________.

A. Li Yuming is in favor of the baby’s name

B. many Chinese people use Arabic numerals in their names

C. a majority of the Chinese people are having longer names

D. there is little possibility for the “@” name to be officially accepted

3.The underlined part in the passage probably means___________.

A. even native speakers find it hard to accept these strange names

B. even native speakers can’t find these characters in their computers

C. even those who are expert at Chinese can’t recognize these characters

D. even those who are expert at Chinese find it hard to accept these names

4.The former Premier Zhu Rongji is mentioned in the passage because ________.

A. people often mispronounce his name

B. there is an uncommon character in his name

C. he often made newspaper editors annoyed during his term in office

D. he once stressed the importance of standardizing Chinese characters

5.The passage is mainly about ___________.

A. how Chinese parents name their babies

B. the importance of standardizing Chinese characters

C. a ban on names using Arabic numerals and foreign languages

D. the problems caused by uncommon characters used in Chinese names

An interesting study posted on Facebook recently shows how men and women develop new interests as they mature(成熟).

While women tend to take exercise seriously from the age of 34, men will wait until their 45th birthdays before working hard to get in shape.

The average woman spends more time talking about sports, politics, career and money as she gets older.

Women’s interest in books reaches its peak(顶峰) at the age of 22, while that of men does so when they are in their 50s.

Men start to change their focus from the workplace to other things after age 30, while women do not do so until eight years later. Both, however, care most about fashion at age 16.

The research used anonymous(匿名的) data donated by thousands of Facebook users, recording the statuses, ‘likes’ and ‘interests’ they had posted on their profiles.

It found the average woman talks about television most at 44, while men peak much younger, at age 31.

Men are also most likely to see a film in a cinema at age 31, while women go out to see films most when they are only 19.

Men are most interested in travel at 29, women at 27, while women talk most about food and drink at 35, and men at 38.

And if you are middle aged, a safe topic for any audience is the weather, which is a key interest for many as they approach 60.

Stephen Wolfram, the British scientist who carried out the research, says, “It’s almost shocking how much this tells us about the changes of people’s typical interests.

“People talk less about video games as they get older, and more about politics.”

1. When do women love books best?

A. At the age of 22. B. At the age of 50.

C. At the age of 30. D. At the age of 15.

2.Men tend to ______ once they are 30.

A. gain more and more weight

B. be less interested in their jobs

C. do more exercise

D. pay more attention to their appearance

3. What are men and women both interested in when they are 16?

A. Getting in shape.

B. Going to the cinema.

C. Popular style of clothing.

D. Food and drink.

4.What does Stephen Wolfram think about the result of the research?

A. People’s interests are different from each other.

B. People’s interests change greatly with age.

C. It is normal for people to change their interests.

D. It is not good for people to change their interests.

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网