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      考研英语阅读理解中的文章，很多来自一些外刊杂志方面的题材。接下来，北京文都考研网为扩宽2020考研学子的知识面，整理了考研英语经济学人:日本人的姓名争论，供考生参考。

2020考研英语经济学人:日本人的姓名争论

Japanese debate how foreigners should refer to them

就如何被外国人称呼引发了日本人的争论

A chrysanthemum by any other name would smell as sweet

菊花无论怎么叫都是香香的

The world calls the leader of China Xi Jinping. His North Korean counterpart is known as Kim Jong Un. The man who led North Vietnam to independence is almost always dubbed Ho Chi Minh.

在世界各地，中国领导人被称为 Xi Jinping，朝鲜领导人被称为金正恩，带领北越走向独立的前越南领导人通常被称为胡志明。

In all three instances, the surname comes first, and then the given names, as is customary in China, Korea and Vietnam. That is the custom in Japan, too. Yet English-speakers refer to the Japanese prime minister as Shinzo Abe, rather than Abe Shinzo.

这三个姓名的叫法都是按照中国、朝鲜和越南的习惯，将姓放在前面、名放在后面。按说日本也是这种风俗习惯。然而，讲英语的人往往把日本首相称为晋三安倍，而非安倍晋三。

Why the inconsistency, asks Japan’s foreign minister, Taro Kono—or rather Kono Taro, as he would like to be known. He says he plans to ask foreign media to start conforming to Japanese practice.

日本外务大臣太郎河野(他更希望人们称他为河野太郎)想知道为什么会产生这种差异。他计划要让外国媒体在称呼姓名时遵循日本的风俗习惯。

The oddity that upsets Mr Kono does not stem from the West attempting to impose its norms on Japan. When Matthew Perry, an American naval officer, forced Japan to end its self-imposed isolation in 1854, he had no qualms about referring to the Japanese officials he was threatening as they referred to themselves.

让河野太郎感到困惑的姓名称呼问题并非源于西方想要把自己的习惯强加给日本。1854年，当美国海军军官马修·佩里迫使日本结束闭关锁国之时，他毫不犹豫地提到了受他威胁的日本官员的名字，正是用的日本人自我称呼所用的方式(即姓在前、名在后)。

Instead it was local elites who, after the Meiji Restoration of 1868, when Japan was rapidly modernising by imitating Western institutions and mores, took it upon themselves to reverse the order of their names for foreign consumption. The intention was to disassociate Japan from the rest of Asia and signal its advanced status to Westerners.

相反，在1868年明治维新后，当日本通过模仿西方的制度和习俗迅速实现现代化时，日本的精英阶层在对外交流时改变了自己的姓名称呼顺序。为的就是让日本与亚洲其他国家脱离关系，并向西方人表明日本的先进地位。

Mr Kono is no nationalist firebrand. He speaks fluent English and is hearteningly open-minded. Indeed, the cause is not really a nationalist one: even at the height of Japanese expansionism during the second world war, Japanese stuck to the convention he is now challenging.

河野太郎并非民族主义者的煽动者。他能说一口流利的英语，也具有开阔的胸怀。事实上，这并不是一个真正的民族主义事件:即使在二战期间日本的扩张主义达到顶峰之时，日本人仍在坚持名在前、姓在后的姓名称呼习惯(正是他们如今想要改变的)。

The cabinet and the wider population are split on the issue. Some organisations, such as Japan’s national football team, already put family names first in English.

在这个问题上，日本政府和广大民众存在着分歧。一些组织(例如日本国家足球队)的英文名已经把姓氏放在了前面。

The debate is an illustration of Japanese culture’s unique, and sometimes awkward, blend of east and west, which stems not only from the Meiji era but also from the American occupation after the second world war. The Japanese love both baseball and shogi (Japanese chess); sushi and doughnuts.

这场辩论正是对日本独特的、有些尴尬的东西方交融文化的一种展示，这种文化的形成不仅源于明治时代，还与二战后美国驻军日本有关。日本人喜欢打棒球和下将棋(日本象棋);喜欢吃寿司和甜甜圈。

Mr Kono argues that the switch to indigenous practice should occur in time for an impending series of showcase events including the Olympics, which Tokyo is hosting next year. But others would argue that Japan’s relaxed and largely unselfconscious blending of foreign and local customs should be the main exhibit.

河野太郎认为，在一系列对外展示活动(包括明年将在东京举办的奥运会)即将到来之际，应该注重日本当地风俗文化的展现。但另一些人则认为，日本应该向外界展现其轻松的、具有包容性的(在不知不觉中便将国外和国内的风俗习惯相融合)文化。

 

【重难点词汇】

chrysanthemum [krɪ'sænθəməm] n. 菊花

counterpart ['kaʊntɚpɑrt] n. 副本;配对物;极相似的人或物

customary ['kʌstə'mɛri] adj. 习惯的;通常的 n. 习惯法汇编

oddity ['ɑdəti] n. 奇异;古怪;怪癖

qualm [kwɑm] n. 疑虑;不安

firebrand ['faɪɚbrænd] n. 火把;煽动叛乱者;放火者

blend [blɛnd] vt./vi. 混合;协调 n. 混合;掺合物

unselfconscious [,ʌnsɛlf'kɑnʃəs] adj. 不装腔作势的;自然的

      以上是北京文都考研网给出的“2020考研英语经济学人:日本人的姓名争论”，希望对备考2020考研英语的考生有所帮助!祝2020考研顺利!

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