最新四级晨读主题美文100篇 75

Remember, a name is for life

　　In Sao Paulo, a baby boy is chortling away, unaware¹ that a court is deciding his fate. If it finds in his father's favour, 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 mocked, but daddy wants to call his son Osama bin² Laden³. The same father, Osvaldo Oliveira Soares, has form for 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 registrar⁴ to say if someone has picked a name they don't think is suitable," says Alison Cathcart, superintendent⁵ registrar 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 researchersintosthe psychology⁶ of naming. "We have stereotypes⁸ 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 able.

　　"The name is the first thing we find out when we meet someone. If you call your child an unusual fluffy⁹ name like Fifi Trixibelle, as did Bob Geldof and Paula Yates, it can make life hard for you - especially if you want to be prime ministerial and are not in the least bit fluffy-headed."

　　There's also the class factor. "Fifty years ago there was no cross-over of names between classes. Now everyone can buy Tatler and see the name Tarquin," says Petrie. "Until the 60s, Tracey was a posh Chelsea name. Now it has a terrible stereotype⁷. 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."

　　But no name is entirely¹⁰ safe. Your parents may not mean to mess you up but they can't know what the next mass murderer will be called. They can't necessarily protect you from other children who have a gift for making fun of any name. Sophies will tell you they were called Sofa in school; Theodores get nicknamed Odour. But, if your surname is Graves or Banks, you might reasonably expect your parents to have noticed that Robin¹¹ had problems.
宁愿生坏命 不要改错名

　　据英国《卫报》11月7日报道，在巴西圣保罗，法庭正决定一名男婴的命运。如果他的父亲胜诉，这名男婴将在未来岁月里麻烦不断。因为他的父亲为他取名本·拉登。巴西有法律规定，父母不可为新生儿取日后引致他/她被嘲笑之名。同是这位父亲，9年前曾为他的另一名儿子取名萨达姆·侯赛因，被法庭颁令禁止。

　　英国并无法律对取名作出规限。但伦敦威斯敏斯特区户籍办公室主任卡芙卡特说，“如果有来自不同文化背景的父母，为他们的孩子取英语脏话为名，我们还是会劝止的。”

　　“命名确是一件不容轻率的事，”伦敦城市大学研究命名心理学的教授海伦·佩翠说。她说人是会受名字影响的，尤其是女孩子。在英国社会，人们讲究等级地位。“翠丝”在60年代还是切尔西区一个上等的名字，可现在，人们会假定“翠丝”是清洁女工。如果你想入主内阁，就更得小心，不要取一个花悄的名字。

　　取名确实是一门大学问，将为人父母者应三思而后行。但亦无名字是百分百“安全”的，因为想象力丰富的孩子们总是可以为同伴取各式花名。

1 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

2 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

3 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

4 registrar   

n.记录员，登记员；(大学的)注册主任

参考例句：

• You can obtain the application from the registrar.你可以向注册人员索取申请书。
• The manager fired a young registrar.经理昨天解雇了一名年轻的记录员。

5 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

6 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

7 stereotype   

n.固定的形象，陈规，老套，旧框框

参考例句：

• He's my stereotype of a schoolteacher.他是我心目中的典型教师。
• There's always been a stereotype about successful businessmen.人们对于成功商人一直都有一种固定印象。

8 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 fluffy   

adj.有绒毛的，空洞的

参考例句：

• Newly hatched chicks are like fluffy balls.刚孵出的小鸡像绒毛球。
• The steamed bread is very fluffy.馒头很暄。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。