In Sao Paulo, a baby boy is smiling, unaware that a court is deciding his fate. If it finds in his father's favor, he is in all kinds of trouble. There may be a law in Brazil against giving your child a name that might cause him to be laughed at, but daddy wants to call his son Osama bin Laden. The same father, Osvaldo Oliveira Soares, has a habit of trying to use babies as political statements. Nine years ago, he was banned from naming a previous son Saddam Hussein. Unlike Brazil, there is no law in Britain that restricts a parent's right to name their child. "It's not for the officials to say if someone has picked a name they don't think is suitable," says Alison Cathcart, superintendent official at Westminster register office. "But if someone is from a different culture and wants to register a name that sounds like a swear word in English then we do advise them of that." "Naming does matter," says Helen Petrie, a professor at the City University of London and a researcher looking into the psychology of naming. "We have fixed beliefs of what sort of people are behind certain names. There are studies of teachers in primary schools in the US that show they rate children with certain names as less capable." "The name is the first thing we find out when we meet someone. If you call your child an unusual silly name like Fifi Trixibelle, as did Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, it can make life hard for you—especially if you want to be smart and are not in the least bit superficial." There's also the class factor. "Fifty years ago there was no cross-over of names between classes. Now everyone can buy Tatter and see the name Tarquin," says Petrie. "Until the 60s, Tracey was a fashionable Chelsea name. Now it has a terrible image fixed in people's mind. I've interviewed some Traceys who find their name a huge burden. However high up they may be in their profession, people hear their name and think they're the cleaner."
单选题 The Brazilian court may rule against Osvaldo Oliveira Soares if he _______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】解析:该句提到,巴西法律禁止给孩子取可能会让人嘲笑的名字,因此Osvaldo Oliveira Soares不能给他的孩子取会让人嘲笑的名字,答案为A。
单选题 In Britain, what the register officials can do is to _______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:该句提到,如果来自别的文化的人希望给小孩取类似脏话的名字,户籍处的官员会劝阻他们不要这样做,因此,户籍处官员可以做的就是保证人们不会在不明就里的情况下给自己的小孩取不合适的名字。解答本题的关键在于理解文中的from a different culture,其语义暗示C中的unknowingly。
单选题 As it is indicated in the third paragraph, the teachers rate some children as less capable because _______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】解析:题干所述对应第3段最后一句,该句作为举例,说明的是上一句的观点,即“我们对某些名字代表了某种人有固定的看法”,因此,教师认定一些孩子能力比较差的原因应该即他们认为什么样的名字代表什么样的人,即名字能够体现某人的能力,故C为答案。
单选题 What do we learn about the names?
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:选项中的名字都出现在最后两段,其中,第4段第2句暗示,如果你想显得精明、不浅薄的话,就不要取名叫Paula Yates,换句话说,Paula Yates这个名字听起来让人觉得浅薄。
单选题 The passage mainly discusses _______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】解析:本文的结构是:开头两段用实例说明在巴西和英国取名的情况,最后两段也是通过实例说明名字的意义。例子都是与观点紧密相连的,本文的观点naming does matter在第3段中提出,由此可见,B是正确答案。