英语畅谈中国文化50主题 29

　　The secret of numbers
A: I noticed that some people like to use 001 for their personalized licence plates, such as BTV 001 and CRC 001. why does everybody like 001?
B: because, in Chinese, the number one represents “the fist” or “the most original”. It’s differentiator¹. The 001 in the licence plate, is an expression of the car owner’s aspirations².
A: at an auction³ in shanghai last year, one particular licence plate, with a combination of four 8’s, was sold for, well over, 100,000 yuan. That made me think, whether there is any special meaning behind the numbers and, how people are influnenced by them.
B: in Cantonese, the number”8” has a similar pronunciation to, the word “prosper”. Guangdong is one of the first provinces to benefit from china’s open policy. There is a lot of temptation to become wealthy so, “8” is a luck number for people in Guangdong. Similarly, “6”is often associated with smoothness. Many people like to choose a date for their weddings which include the number “6”. Lots of people got married on june 6, 2006. in contrast, “4”is the least favorable number because, it sounds very similar to the word, “death”. Many buildings do not, even, use the number for their elevator programming. Now, as a result of western influence, more and more Chinese people started to dislike the number “13”.
A: does the number, “3” have a special meaning too?
B: number “3” is, always, associated with abundance or, the ultimate limit. There are a lot of proverbs with the number “3” “shi bu guo san” is one which, literally⁴, means, “you are only allowed three chances”. Another proverb is “ san si er xing”. Meaning, “think three times before you act”.
A: does this have any effect on people’s lives?
B: it depends. Sometime ago, a man received a blackmail⁵ message on his cell phone. It told him to deposit 3,000 yuan in a designated bank account by a certain time or, his family would face danger. Similar blackmail threats have happened to a number of other people. The police found that there was, at last, an “8”in the cell phone numbers of the victims. The robbers thought that only wealthy people could afford to choose the number“8”. So , instead of bringing the cictims prosperity and wealth, the number nearly got them in trouble.
A: that reminds me of a saying:　＂things will have an adverse⁶ effect if pushed to the limit.”

1 differentiator   

区分者，微分器

参考例句：

• The jam fault of the differentiator is dangerous to steam turbine. 微分器卡涩对汽轮机正常运行有较大的危害。
• By using differentiator series method, the formula of partial integration is obtained. 用微分算子级数法得到分部积分公式，使一类积分计算变得十分简单。

2 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

3 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

6 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。