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阅读理解
There is good and bad news for parents today．The word “mother” has been voted the most beautiful word in the English language．But “father” failed even to make it on to the list of the 70 best words compiled(汇编)in a survey of thousands of non-English speakers across the globe．From Ankara to Zurich, “mother” was voted above “love” “smile” and “blossom”．
“Mother-in-law” was also nowhere to be seen．Funny that maybe the hyphens(连字符)disqualified it．
In second place was “passion”, followed by “smile” “love” and “eternity”, with “fantastic(难以置信的)”“destiny” “freedom” “liberty” and “tranquility” completing the top 10．
The results were revealed by the British Council which carried out a huge survey of more than 40,000 people in 102 non-English speaking countries．
The study was undertaken to celebrate the group's 70th anniversary－and it threw up a few surprising entries to the list．
“It's interesting that ‘mother’, the only word of the 70 that describes a direct relationship between people, came top of the poll(投票)”, said British Council spokesman Greg Selby．“It is great to see words in the survey that are so positive and suggestive of the British Council's purpose－words such as freedom’ ‘liberty’ ‘peace’ ‘renaissance’ and ‘destiny’．”
Those surveyes were allowed to choose their words on either meaning or sound, said Mr．Selby．This explained why words that are satisfying to pronounce, like “flip-flop”, made the list．
Famous mothers like Kate Winslet, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer have all done their bit to make the word popular．
Kate, 28, even pulled out of Woody Allen's new film to spend more time with her young family．
Singer Robbie Williams is proud to declare his love for his mother, while comedian Peter Kay endured a marathon British tour to pay for a new house for his mom．
The mood was added to by Britney Spears, yesterday as she expressed her love for her mother．
She said：“My mom was and still is a supermom．She is just so much fun and I think the reason why I relate to her so well is because she's young mom．”
She added：“Mom, thanks for being the best role model-you rock．”
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