Most Chinese people share a few common surnames, like Zhang, Wang, Li, Liu and Chen. The Chinese expression for "ordinary people" literally means "the old one hundred surnames".
But Cheng Yinglian, a retired worker living in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, said his interest in rare surnames was piqued after reading a newspaper many years ago and discovering a person with the surname Gui, which literally means "ghost", the report said.
Since then, he has scoured newspapers, books and other publications to find similar rare surnames, coming up with about 2,000 to date.
Those he has found include Ling (zero), Cu (vinegar), Miao (second) and Yi (one).
Cheng said in order to collect and find out the origins of the strange surnames, he bought many ancient works and dictionaries for study. This February, he also published a book based on his surname collection.
"I may apply for the Guinness (Book of World Records)," said Cheng.
He said most of the surnames he collected are not included in the Hundred Surnames, a classic Chinese text composed of common surnames in ancient China.
According to the latest statistics available from the Ministry of Public Security in 2007, nearly 93 million people in China are surnamed "Wang", taking the largest proportion among all surnames. And people with the top 100 common surnames in China take up 84.77 percent of the whole population.
Chinese people attach great significance to people's names and many parents go out of their way to give their children auspicious names that suggest they will grow up to be healthy, strong and rich.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案,并将其标号填入题前括号内。
What’s the meaning of “ordinary people”?
A.the people whose looks is ordinary. |
B.the people whose families are ordinary. |
C.the people whose surnames are ordinary. |
D.the people whose name are ordinary. |
Which one is the rare surname?
A.Huang |
B.Ling |
C.Zhu |
D.Liu |
Which sentence is true according to this passage?
A.Most Chinese people share a lot of common surnames. |
B.Hundred Surnames collect all Chinese surname. |
C.There are lots of people whose surname is “Wang”. |
D.Chinese don’t care for their names, because it cannot take happiness or sadness. |
What is the meaning of auspicious in this passage?
Where can we probably see this passage?
A.newspapers |
B.magazines |
C.books |
D.recipe |