集体“变年轻”:韩国人年龄将统一减少1-2岁
集体“变年轻”:韩国人年龄将统一减少1-2岁


“How old are you”? It’s a simple question with a clear answer. But for those in South Korea, answering this question is anything but straightforward. Because there are several ways of counting one’s age in South Korea. 

Officially(官方地), the country has used the international counting way, using a person’s birth date only, in most areas since 1962. The country also has another official way to count age, in which babies are born at the age of 0, and get a year every January 1. Under this, a baby born in December 2020 would be two years old by January 2022, even if they wouldn’t officially turn two until December of that year. And then there’s the “Korean age” way. It is more commonly used by them. Everyone is one year old at birth, and becomes a year older on New Year’s Day regardless(不管) of their birth date.

The ways of counting age in South Korea may soon change as the country’s president-elect Yoon Suk-yeol is pushing for the “Korean age” way to be ended. He was looking to change the age counting way in order to bring South Korea in line with the rest of the world. He said the different age calculations(计算) had resulted in difficulties in management(管理) and waste of money. The new plan seems to have been widely accepted by some—but experts say they are not sure whether it will actually be used.

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1.What does the underlined part “anything but straightforward” probably mean?

A Interesting.

B Difficult.

C Clever.

D Stupid.

解析:选B。B 词义猜测题。根据第一段划线部分前文“It’s a simple question with a clear answer.”和转折词“But”可知,前后意思表示转折,结合后文给出的原因,可知一般情况下回答年龄很简单,只有一个答案,但是对韩国人来说就不简单了,因为在韩国,计算年龄的方式有好几种。故选B。

2.How many age counting ways are there in South Korea?

A One.

B Two.

C Three.

D Four.

解析:选C。C 细节理解题。根据第二段可知,韩国有三种计算年龄的方式:官方的有两种,其中一种为国际通用的按生日计算,另一种官方的是婴儿出生为0岁,每年1月1日增加一岁;第三种是民间最常用的“韩国年龄”计算法,即婴儿出生为1岁,每年1月1日增加一岁。故选C。

3.How old is Jane now if she was born on December 2 in 2018 according to the “Korean age” way?

A Three.

B Four.

C Five.

D Six.

解析:选C。C 数字计算题。根据第二段“Everyone is one year old at birth, and becomes a year older on New Year’s Day regardless(不管) of their birth date.”可知“韩国年龄”的计算方法是韩国人刚出生就是一岁,过了新年又加一岁。出生在2018年12月的简,在2019年1月1日的时候就是2岁了,故2022年应该是(2022-2019+2=)5岁。故选C。

4.Why does Yoon Suk-yeol plan to end the “Korean age” way?

A To provide more jobs for people.

B To make management harder.

C To become similar to other countries.

D To save money for kids.

解析:选C。C 细节理解题。根据第三段“He was looking to change the age counting way in order to bring South Korea in line with the rest of the world.”可知候任总统尹锡悦打算废除“韩国年龄”体系是为了与世界其他国家保持一致。故选C。

5.What’s the experts’ attitude(态度) to the change of age counting way?

A Uninterested.

B Worried.

C Excited.

D Satisfied(满意的).

解析:选B。B 观点态度题。根据最后一段最后一句“but experts say they are not sure whether it will actually be used”可知专家们对此持怀疑态度,即表示担忧。故选B。