英语课程计划-Get A Different Name Day

Do you like your name? Have you ever thought about changing it? Well, on Get A Different Name Day you can. This special day always falls on February 13th. They say the day is: “For the pity of millions of us who hate our birth names. On this day we may change our names to whatever we wish and have the right to expect colleagues¹, family and friends to so address us.” They have a point. We did not choose our names. Our parents made that decision. Maybe most of us would change our name if we could. The trouble is, if we don’t like our name, we are stuck with it for many years as we grow up. But all is not lost. You can have it legally² changed.

Most of us have a given name and some of us have a middle name. One of the biggest influences on our given names is family tradition. Our parents wanted to name us after a fondly-remembered aunt or a grandparent. Another huge influence is popular culture. There are a lot more Brads and Kylies in the world today because of the actor Brad Pitt and singer Kylie Minogue. Lots of people do change their name. There are many reasons for this. Actors want a better-sounding name; people who change religions also commonly change names; people who enter witness³ protection⁴ programmes change their names for security⁵ reasons. American actor Rob⁶ Morrow called his daughter Tu. Would you change your name if you were Tu Morrow?

1 colleagues   

n.同事，同僚( colleague的名词复数 )；同人

参考例句：

• He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision. 他想与他的同事先商议一下再作出决定。
• She is held in high esteem by her colleagues. 她深受同事的敬重。

2 legally   

adv. 合法地，法律上地

参考例句：

• A bill of exchange is a legally recognized document. 汇票是合法票据。
• The agreement will be legally binding. 这个协议将具有法律效力。

3 witness   

n.证人，目击者，证据，证明，证词；vt.目击，作证，证明，表明，经历；vi.作证人

参考例句：

• She was a witness of the incident.她是事件的目击者。
• A witness was examined by him in a court of law.他在法庭上质问一个证人。

4 protection   

n.保护，防卫，保护制度

参考例句：

• The protection of the country is the duty of everyone.保卫国家是每个人的责任。
• The young in our society need care and protection.我们社会的年轻人需要关怀和照顾。

5 security   

n.安全，安全感；防护措施；保证(金)，抵押(品)；债券，证券

参考例句：

• A security guard brought him down with a flying tackle.一名保安人员飞身把他抱倒。
• There was tight security at the airport when the President's plane landed.总统的专机降落时，机场的保安措施很严密。

6 rob   

v.抢劫；vi.抢劫，盗窃；vt.非法剥夺，使丧失，抢劫

参考例句：

• Two men formed a plot to rob the bank.两人制定了抢劫那家银行的秘密计划。
• They were scheming to rob the bank.他们在密谋抢劫银行。