Ancient characters come alive on memes甲骨萌表情

王大明

甲骨文，這種最早刻在龜甲和動物肩胛骨上的中國書寫文字。清華大學(xué)美術(shù)學(xué)院陳楠教授鉆研甲骨文19年并將其制作成表情包，如今這些表情包活躍于中國互聯(lián)網(wǎng)，在年輕一代中逐漸發(fā)展成為一種新的網(wǎng)絡(luò)語言。

Jiaguwen， the earliest Chinese writing inscriptions（刻印文字） carved on tortoise shells and animal scapulas（肩胛骨）， comes alive on Chinese internet and evolves （逐漸發(fā)展） itself as a new online language among the young generation.

“I never imagined that I can use Jiaguwen to communicate with my friends. I thought they can only be seen in my textbooks and understood by a few researchers. Also， these memes（表情包） look so creative and cute，” said Sina Weibo user Daodan Xiaopan.

“The digitization of Jiaguwen is a brilliant idea to promote traditional Chinese culture， and I hope the designers can launch more memes for me to learn the ancient characters，” WeChat user Xin Wenxu added.

Chen Nan， who designs Jiaguwen memes， is happy to know that Chinese netizens like his works. “At present， most people think Jiaguwen is hard to understand and ignore the great historic value of it. Through using Jiaguwen memes， I truly hope that more people can develop the interest of the ancient characters and make it accessible to more people's daily life，” Chen said.

“Jiaguwen is mainly the pictograph（象形文字） with regular strokes（筆畫）and beautiful forms， and it can be dated back to the Shang Dynasty （1600—1046 BC）， which is regarded as the primary form of modern Chinese characters，” Chen added.

Graduating from the Academy of Arts and Design of Tsinghua University， Chen has devoted himself to studying Chinese characters' design for 17 years.

“The design and promotion of Jiaguwen should follow the trend rather than turn it into a cultural symbol that is difficult to understand and unpredictable. Chinese characters are the cultural genes（基因） of our nation， which ensures the strong vitality of Chinese fine culture，” Chen said.

1.What do Chinese netizens think of Jiaguwen memes？

A.They think the memes ignore the historic value.

B.They think it is hard to understand the memes.

C.They find the memes amazing and like them.

D.They regard the memes unpredictable.

2.How do you like Chen Nan's idea of creating Jiaguwen memes？ （no more than 15 words）

________________________________________________

3.Can you think of other ways to spread Jiaguwen？

________________________________________________

Ⅰ.Important vocabulary in the text

1.launch v. 發(fā)動

2.ignore v. 忽視

3.accessible adj. 易接近的;容易理解的

4.unpredictable adj. 不可預(yù)測的

5.vitality n. 活力;生命力

6.historic value 歷史價值

7.develop the interest of 培養(yǎng)……興趣

8.devote oneself to 致力于;獻身于……

Ⅱ.Complete the following sentences in correct forms with the vocabulary given above.

1.They have launched a program to make science __________ （access） to young people.

2.No one can assure you of the __________ （predict） result. You just need to fight for your goal.

3.Without continued learning， a man will lose his intellectual __________ （vital）.

4.People don't like to ask questions for fear of appearing __________ （ignore）.

5.這門選修課旨在幫助培養(yǎng)孩子們對中國詩歌的興趣。（develop the interest of）

____________________________________________________________

6.這就是我的老師，一個非常努力的人，致力于教學(xué)研究很多年。（devote oneself to）

__________________________________________________