阅读理解。
When former American President Bill Clinton travelled to South Korea to visit President Kim Young Sam,
he repeatedly referred to the Korean president's wife as Mrs. Kim. By mistake, President Clinton's advisers
thought that Koreans have the same naming customs as the Japanese. Clinton had not been told that, in Korea,
wives keep their family names. President Kim Young Sam's wife was named Sohn Myong Suk. Therefore,
she should be addressed (称谓) as Mrs. Sohn.
President Clinton arrived in Korea directly after leaving Japan and had not changed his culture gears. His
failure to follow Korean customs gave the impression that Korea was not as important to him as Japan.
In addition to Koreans, some Asian husbands and wives do not share the same family names. This practice
often puzzles (使困惑) English-speaking teachers when talking with a pupil's parents. They become puzzled
about the student's correct last name. Placing the family name first is common among a number of Asian
cultures.
Mexican naming customs are different as well. When a woman marries, she keeps her family name and
adds her husband's name after the word de (of). This affects (影响) how they fill in forms in the United States.
When requested to fill in a middle name, they generally write the father's family name. But Mexicans are
addressed by the family name of the mother. This often causes puzzlement.
Here are a few ways to deal with such difficult situations: don't always think that a married woman uses
her husband's last name. Remember that in many Asian cultures, the order of first and last names is reversed
(颠倒), Ask which name a person would prefer to use. If the name is difficult to pronounce, admit it, and
ask the person to help you say it correctly.
1. The story of Bill Clinton is used to _____.
A. improve US-Korean relations
B. introduce the topic of the text
C. describe his visit to Korea
D. tell us how to address a person
2. The word "gears"in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _____.
A. action plans
B. naming customs
C. travel maps
D. thinking patterns
3. When a woman marries in Korea, she _____.
A. continues to use her family name
B. uses her husband's given name
C. shares her husband's family name
D. adds her husband's given name to hers
4. To address a married woman properly, you'd better _____.
A. use her middle name
B. use her husband's first name
C. ask her which name she likes
D. change the order of her names
