The 115-year-old famous Oxford Dictionary will now include popular new Chinese terms like “shanzhai” “youtiao” and “fangnu”, as part of the modern Chinese language.
As China plays a more and more important role in the world economy, the Chinese language is forever developing, attracting more attention from people who want to understand this ancient yet powerful language.
For instance, the word “shanzhai” is used to describe the countless knockoffs(名牌仿制品).Another new term in the new edition is the word “fangnu”, a term used to describe the phenomenon in large cities where well-educated youth complain of a miserable existence due to the heavy burden of a home mortgage(按揭贷款).All these new or often fashionable terms can be found in the new Oxford English –Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary. that was unveiled(公布于众的)in the recently concluded Beijing International Book Fair last week.
This dictionary is the largest single volume English-Chinese, Chinese-English dictionary and contains 670,000 words and phrases after five years of preparation. Sixty editors from the Oxford University Press and its partner in China—the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press worked together on the project. According to Julie Kleeman, the dictionary’s chief editor, most of the firm’s editors were Chinese, while about one fourth were native-English speakers.
“We don’t want to make it florid(绚丽的), we want it to be modern and conversational. Many of the words in the present dictionary are no longer in use.” said Kleeman. “The need for studying Chinese by foreigners today is totally different from decades ago. Precise, native and practical—that is our main advantage,” she said. She added the dictionary also has a sidebar section that explains words which contain too much cultural information, like “hutong”, a traditional architecture style of Beijing. Another would be “youtian” the popular Chinese breakfast choice usually eaten with soybean milk.
Kleeman said in the future newer updated versions will be only available online as language often changes too quickly for book versions to keep up with. The online version will also offer a Chinese pronunciation guide.
The online version, allowing access via different platforms from the PC to the iPhones, will be ready “as soon as possible”, Kleeman said.
Why will Oxford Dictionary include popular new Chinese terms?
A.To attract those who want to get a better understanding of Chinese. |
B.To develop the international working language, English. |
C.To keep up with the development of the world economy. |
D.To interest people and sell at a higher price. |
We can use the following words to describe this new dictionary EXCEPT__________.
A.accurate |
B.flowery |
C.practical |
D.native |
The newer updated versions will be only available online because______.
A.book versions are too expensive to buy |
B.book versions can’t offer a Chinese pronunciation guide |
C.they can keep up with the quickly changing language |
D.they will allow access in different languages |
What can we learn from the text?
A.Oxford Dictionary has a history of more than 100 decades. |
B.the word “shanzhai” can be only found in online versions. |
C.Most of the dictionary’s editors are native English speakers. |
D.Oxford Dictionary will be modern, practical and multifunctional |