America has been a land of naming freedom and self-expression. While other governments impose restrictions—German parents have t

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问题     America has been a land of naming freedom and self-expression. While other governments impose restrictions—German parents have to choose a name that clearly indicates the gender of the child and is not a surname, and the French, among others, forbid names that might expose a child to mockery—in the United States, anything goes.
    When Lum and Chin Nguyen had their first child, 26 years ago, they wanted to give him an American name. Newly settled in North Carolina, they chose Duke, in honor of nearby Duke University. Best of all, the name could work in both their old and new cultures by spinning its spelling to Duc or Duck, as the boy’s teachers insisted on pronouncing it, to the great amusement of his classmates. With his pride injured, Duc Nguyen decided to reinvent himself and his name. His new choice was tried-and-true American and impossible to screw up: Wes.
    "Your name is a way of marketing yourself," says Wes Nguyen, who turned his personal adventures in naming into a career as a corporate product namer. "When we create a new name for clients, we create imagery behind it, and I did that when I chose my own new name. Wes reminds me of the West Coast, of someone young and sophisticated and innovative. I think of a surfer, of someone who has work-life balance."
    The search for a name that screams "I’m unique!" leads some parents to invent names or play with traditional spelling. However, a downside of a "creative" name is that it may come with baggage, not all of it positive. "I always felt I was prejudged by my name," says Gestin Skaggs, 43, whose parents named her for a word they heard in a German love song. "I’ve either had to overcome some stereotype of a short, fat German man or live up to an expectation that I’m a really wild and creative thinker. People ascribe all kinds of personality traits to me that I don’t have."
    But that’s a small price to pay, say the teens with offbeat names we spoke with. "I’ve met a lot of people because of my name. They hear it and think it’s cool," says Calypso Gibaldi, 15, named by her ocean-loving father for Jacques Cousteau’s boat. "If my name was Jane, I’d be average like everyone else."
What does Calypso Gibaldi think of her name?

选项 A、It plays a positive role in her life.
B、It has caused unexpected problems.
C、She’s not sure of the role her name plays.
D、She’d rather have a more common name.

答案A

解析 第五段以Calypso Gibaldi为例介绍了个性名字带来的好处。Calypso Gibaldi说:“因为我的名字我结识了很多人。他们听到我的名字都觉得很酷。如果我的名字是Jane,那我就是个普通人,和其他人没什么两样。”
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