When making a promise, why do Chinese people like to hook pinkies (勾小指)?

In China, children like to make promises and show their t【1】 in each other by hooking pinkies with each other. They then say, “A pinkie promise must be k【2】 for 100 years.” Maybe you used to hook pinkies with your buddies, didn’t you?

No one is sure how long this h【3】has remained and where it comes from. It’s said that it has something to do with the role of fingers in Chinese c【4】. As we all know, the Chinese character for “finger” has the s【5】 pronunciation as a character that means “aim” or “purpose” . The latter can sometimes refer to someone’s thoughts. So hooking fingers can be seen a【6】the exchanging of thoughts. And it shows that the two believe in each other.

That might be why the fingers play an important part in making promises. Chinese people not only use them to complete a promise, it is also common for some ancient people to cut fingers w【7】 making a blood oath (歃血盟). When someone swears (發(fā)誓), they use their finger to p【8】 to the sky.

Generally speaking, people hook fingers when they are making a serious promise. In some gangster (黑幫) movies, if a person breaks a promise, p【9】 he or she will have their little finger cut off!

Of course, this kind of thing is not very likely to happen in r【10】 life. But we can still see how important “pinkie promises” can be.

A. B. C.

A. come in B. come out C. come from D. come to

A．smoke

B．smoking

C．smokes

A . to make； of B. of making； in

C. to make ；on D. of making ；at

A. friendly B. strict C. famous D. Clear

A. thought B. attention

C. surprise D. career

A．be

B．to be

C．arrive

D．arrive to

A．for

B．in

C．to

D．on

—OK, I will.

A. to close B. closing

C. to open D. opening