When former American President Bill Clinton traveled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam, he repeatedly referred to the Korean president’s wife as Mrs. Kim. By mistake, President Clinton’s advisers thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese. Clinton had not been told that, in Korea, wives keep their family names. President Kim Young Sam’s wife was named Sohm Myong Suk. Therefore, she should be addressed (称谓) as Mrs. Sohm.
President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture gears. His failure to follow Korean customs gave the impression that Korea was not as important to him as Japan.
In addition to Koreans some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names. This practice often puzzles English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil’s parents. They bee puzzled about the student’s correct last name. Placing the family name first is mon among a number of Asian cultures.
Mexican naming customs are different as well. When a woman marries, she keeps her family name and adds her husband’s name after the word “de”, which means “of”. This affects how they fill in forms in the United States. When requested to fill in a middle name, they generally write the father’s family name. But Mexicans are addressed by the family name of the mother. This often causes puzzlement.
Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations: don’t always think that a married woman uses her husband’s last name. Remember that in many Asian cultures, the order of first and last names is reversed (颠倒). Ask which name a person would prefer to use. If the name is difficult to pronounce, admit it, and ask the person to help you say it correctly.
【小题1】The story of Bill Clinton is used to .A．improve US Korean relationsB．introduce the topic of the textC．describe his visit to KoreaD．tell us how to address a person【小题2】The word “gears” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to .A．action plansB．naming customsC．travel mapsD．thinking patterns【小题3】When a woman marries in Korea, she .A．continues to use her family name B．uses her husband’s given name C．shares her husband’s family name D．adds her husband’s given name to hers【小题4】To address a married woman properly, you’d better .A．use her middle name B．use her husband’s first nameC．ask her which name she likesD．change the order of her names【小题5】What can NOT be inferred from the text? .A．Wives do not keep their family names in Japan.B．Different countries have different naming customs in some way.C．Naming custom will not cause any puzzle among Asian countries.D．The naming custom in Korea is different from that of Japan.B
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(答案→)B
解析：本文介绍了亚洲女性在结婚以后并没有像西方女性一样改变自己的姓，这让西方人感到很困惑，文章中还提及了其它的一些例子。
【小题1】B 推理题。在文章第一段中用克林顿总统所犯的这个错误来引起本文所要讨论的关于已婚女性的姓的话题。这个例子只是起介绍引导的作用，故B正确。
【小题2】D 推理题。根据President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture gears.字面意思为：克林顿总统离开日本直接去了韩国，还没有改变他的文化思维方式，仍然把日本的文化思维带到了韩国。故该词应该是指思维方式，故D项正确。
【小题3】A 细节题。根据第一段第三行in Korea, wives keep their family names.说明在韩国女性结婚以后仍然保留自己的姓，故A正确。
【小题4】C 细节题。根据文章最后2行Ask which name a person would prefer to use. If the name is difficult to pronounce, admit it, and ask the person to help you say it correctly说明要想适当地称呼别人，就请直接问对方，故C正确。
【小题5】C 细节题。根据文章第三段1,2行 In addition to Koreans some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names. This practice often puzzles English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil’s parents.说明亚洲人的称呼方式会让欧洲人感到很困惑，故C项说法是错误的，符合本题的要求。