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  3. Americans have a great love for informality and nowhere is this better expressed than in their love for nicknames．Upon greeting

Americans have a great love for informality and nowhere is this better expressed than in their love for nicknames．Upon greeting

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问题 Americans have a great love for informality and nowhere is this better expressed than in their love for nicknames．Upon greeting strangers for the first time they will quickly introduce themselves by their nickname．These are shortened forms of their given name at birth and reflect the casual relationships which exist among friends and coworkers．Family names are hardly ever used in daily situations and the use of one’s father’s last name is saved only for rare and formal occasions．In many traditional cultures the use of the family name is seen as a sign of respect．For Americans，however, it’s the nickname which creates an immediate intimacy between two people upon which to build a relationship．By speaking to another on a first name basis and using his nickname，walls are immediately torn down and equality between two people is established．
    Not only people but cities often carry．their own nicknames．Chicago is called the“Windy City”because of the strong winds which come down from Canada throughout the year．Philadelphia is well-known as the“City of Brotherly Love”．St．Louis with its Gateway Arch is called“The Gateway to the West”，and New York City is considered the“Big Apple”for reasons which are still obscure to most people including many New Yorkers．Other cities are merely abbreviations for the sake of convenience．Washington is simply called D．C．and Los Angeles is L．A．
    Not every：nickname, however,is a complement and sonic can be downright rude and insulting．If someone should demonstrate a certain negative characteristic，a label will soon be attached to describe that person in a non-flattering way．Likewise a person’s physical traits which are very dominant may lead to nicknames but not necessarily to one’s liking or choice．A nickname，therefore，is a way of endearing，identifying，alienating or describing someone or something for better or worse．  
The word“obscure”in Paragraph 2 probably means______．
选项 A、difficult to learn
B、widely accepted
C、1ittle known
D、complex
答案C
解析 第二段介绍了美国某些城市昵称的由来．在介绍New York被称为Big Apple的原因时，原文提到“for reasons which are still obscure to most people including many New Yorkers”，即大多数人，包括许多纽约人在内仍然______它的原因。可推知，人们对此昵称不甚了解，C项符合题意，为正确答案。
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