Six Chinese Characters
Dear students, our country has a long history. Chinese characters usually have more than one meaning and some of them are particularly loved by Chinese people. Here are the top six lucky ones. Please note we use "pinyin" here because "pinyin" is the Chinese spelling system for the characters. For example, "fu" is the "pinyin" for good luck in Chinese. "pinyin" "fu" is only the phonic (语音的 ) part of the character and if you want to know the meaning of good luck "fu", you must read the Chinese character福 because "fu" also represents (代表) other Chinese characters that sound the same.
1.福 "fu" means blessing, good fortune, good luck. Chinese character福 "fu" is one of the most popular ones used during Chinese New Year. It is often displayed upside down on the front door of a house or an apartment. The upside down福"fu" means good luck comes since the character for upside down in Chinese sounds the same as the character for "come".
2.禄 "Iu" means prosperity.
It is used to mean official's salary(薪水 ) in feudal (封建的 ) China.
3. 寿 "shou" means longevity.
Chinese character寿 "shou" also means life, age or birthday.
4.喜 "xi" is happiness.
The doubled character喜 "xi" means double happiness. It is usually displayed everywhere at Chinese weddings.
5.财 "cai" is wealth or money.
Chinese often say "money can make a ghost turn a millstone". It is to say money really can do a lot of things. But, still-money can’t buy everything.
6.和 "he" means harmomous.
People's harmony is an important part of Chinese culture. When you have harmomous
relations with others, things will be a lot easier for you.
小题1: What does the word "character" mean in this passage?
A．性格
B．汉字
C．角色
D．特征小题2:We use to show how to read the Chinese characters.
A．"pinyin"
B．spelling
C．Chinese
D．letters小题3: What does the upside down福 "fu" mean?
A． It means coming .
B． It means that good luck comes .
C．It means good fortune.
D．It means that "fu" is upside down.小题4:Which sentence is right according to the passage?
A．Money is a ghost.
B．Money can buy everything.
C．Money is everything.
D．Money isn’t everything.小题5: After reading the passage, can we say that sound "he" only means harmony?
A．No, we can't.
B．Yes, we can.
C．I know several words read as "he".
D．Yes, you can.
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:B
小题4:D
小题5:A
题目分析：这篇短文中作者通过举例来告诉我们，中国的汉字通常有不只一个意思。作者给我们介绍了六个汉字，福、禄、寿、喜、财、和。
小题1:词义猜测题。根据短文的大意可知，这篇短文中作者给我们介绍了一些中国汉字的意思，如福、禄、寿、喜、财、和等。这里的character的意思就是汉字。故选B。
小题2:细节理解题。根据短文第二段中可知，作者在介绍这六个汉字的意思时，使用拼音来告诉我们这几个汉字的读音。如福，fu、禄，lu等。故选A。
小题3:细节理解题。根据短文第二段中作者关于福这个汉字的介绍中The upside down福"fu" means good luck comes可知，在中国的农历新年时，福这个字很受欢迎。而且它经常倒着贴，意思是福到了，即好运到了。故选B。
小题4:细节理解题。根据短文中作者关于财这个字的介绍中Chinese often say "money can make a ghost turn a millstone". It is to say money really can do a lot of things. But, still-money can’t buy everything.可知，中国人经常说：有钱能使鬼推磨，钱真的可以做很多事情，但是也有钱买不到的东西。由此我们可知D选项money isn’t everything，钱不是一切，这句话是对的。故选D。
小题5:细节理解题。根据短文第一段中Chinese characters usually have more than one meaning可知，作者告诉我们，中国的汉字通常很有不只一个意思。因此和这个字也是有很多意思的，不只是和谐。故选A。
