The answer is A.
Let’s take a look at how to get to the bottom of this Chinese brainteaser. Chinese people often use “先生
(xiānsheng) Mr.” to address a “男人(nánrén)man.”
In Chinese, separately “先 (xiān)” means “first, earlier, or before” and “生(sheng)” means “to be born.” So, together, “先生(xiānsheng)” also means “be born first.”
“先生 (xiānsheng),usually meaning “Mr.,” is used to show one’s respect toward a man. When used in conjunction with one’s family name, “先生(xiānsheng)” follows the family name, as in “李先生(Lǐ xiānsheng) Mr. Lee” and “司徒先生(Sītú xiānsheng) Mr. Situ.”
Lǐ xiānsheng shì wǒmen gōngsīde zhòngyào kèhù.
李 先生 是 我们 公司的 重要 客户。
Mr. Lee is one of our important clients.
Wáng Mín: Liú xiānsheng, nínhǎo, hǎojiǔbújiàn!
王民： 刘 先生， 您好， 好久不见！
Wang Min: Hello, Mr. Liu, it has been a long time since we last met!
Liú Míng: Shì’ā, Wáng xiānsheng, zuìjìn zěnmeyàng?
刘明： 是啊，王 先生， 最近 怎么样？
Liu Ming: Yes, Mr. Wang. How’s it going?
In Chinese, we call a women “小姐(xiǎojiě) Miss” or “女士(nǚshì) Mrs.” The same as in English, “小姐(xiǎojiě)” usually refers to unmarried women, and “女士(nǚshì)” to married women. However, here, you need to pay
special attention to the term “小姐(xiǎojiě),” because using the term on its own may give off the wrong meaning,
Chinese people do, however, commonly use the term “小姐(xiǎojiě)” along with someone’s last name, such as “王小姐(Wáng xiǎojiě) Miss Wang.”
Lǐ nǚshì shì wǒmende xiàozhǎng.
李 女士 是 我们的 校长。
Mrs. Lee is our principal.
Bái Lì: Zhāng xiǎojiě, zhèwèi shì wǒmende xīnjīnglǐ, Lín xiǎojiě.
白莉：张 小姐， 这位 是 我们的 新经理，林小姐。
Bai Li: Miss Zhang, this is our new manager, Miss Lin.
Zhāng Jìng: Lín xiǎojiě, nínhǎo, hěn gāoxìng rènshí nín.
张静： 林 小姐， 您好， 很 高兴 认识 您。
Zhang Jing: Hello, Miss Lin. Nice to meet you.
You may often hear a married women refer to her “先生(xiānsheng),” and in this case, “先生(xiānsheng)” means “husband” and “太太(tàitai)” would mean wife.
Wú Hào de tàitai hěn piàoliang.
吴浩 的 太太 很 漂亮。
Wu Hao’s wife is very pretty.
Zhèwèi shì wǒ xiānsheng.
这位 是 我 先生。
This is my husband.
1.Wang Fei “王飞” one of our company’s Chinese clients. When you first meet him, you are supposed to call him _____.
A. “王小姐(Wáng xiǎojiě)”
B. “王先生(Wáng xiānsheng)”
C. “先生王(xiānsheng Wáng)”
2. In Chinese, we usually use _____ for married women and _____ for unmarried women.
A. “小姐(xiǎojiě), “太太(tàitai)”
B. “女士(nǚshì)”, “先生(xiānsheng)”
C. “女士(nǚshì)”, “小姐(xiǎojiě)”
3. If Mary says “这位是我先生(Zhèwèi shì wǒ xiānsheng),” we can know that she is
.
A. Married
B. Unmarried
C. Neither A nor B
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