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PASSAGE · 先通读全文，再逐空回看前后句P1Numbers always play an important role in Chinese culture. The Chinese think that there are lucky and unlucky numbers. They like choosing lucky numbers for important things in their lives, such as dates of moving into a new house, telephone numbers, wedding dates, and so on. 1
P2The number 8 has long been considered as the luckiest number in Chinese culture because of its pronunciation of "ba". 2 Some businessmen are willing to spend much money to get a telephone number that contains as many "8's" as possible.
P3The number 6, which is pronounced as "liu", shows that people can do everything smoothly. And the number 9 means longevity and eternity (长寿与永恒) in Chinese culture. 3 For example, 988 is considered as a lucky number combination because 9 sounds like "forever" in Chinese, and 8 means fortune and success. Another example is 1314. The pronunciation sounds like "a whole life" and "forever" in Chinese. 4
P4In Chinese New Year, there are also some lucky number combinations such as 168, 666, 888 and 1666. The elders like to put amounts like these in hongbao to show their best wishes to the younger generation. 5