【阅读理解Overthepastcenturyallkindsofunfairnessanddiscriminationhavebeenmadeillegal．Butonepopularformcontinuestoexistthatisalphabetism(字母排序法)．Thisforthoseas】

　　阅读理解

　　Overthepastcenturyallkindsofunfairnessanddiscriminationhavebeenmadeillegal．Butonepopularformcontinuestoexistthatisalphabetism(字母排序法)．Thisforthoseasyetunawareofsuchadisadvantagereferstodiscriminationagainstthosewhosesurnames(姓氏)beginwithaletterinthelowerhalfofthealphabet．

　　IthaslongbeenknownthatthecarsofataxifirmcalledAAAAhaveabigadvantageoverZodiaccarswhencustomerslookthroughtheirphonedirectories．LesswellknownistheadvantagethatAdamAbbothasinlifeoverZoeZysman．Englishnamesarefairlyspreadbetweenthehalvesofthealphabet．YetaquitelargenumberoftoppeoplehavesurnamesbeginningwithlettersbetweenAandK．

　　ThustheAmericanpresidentsandvice-presidentshavesurnamesstartingwithBandCseparatelyand26ofthosebeforeGeorgeBushtookoffice(includinghisfather)hadsurnamesinthefirsthalfofthealphabetagainstjust16inthesecondhalf．EvenmorestrikingsixofthesevenheadsofgovernmentoftheG7richcountriesarealphabeticallyadvantaged(BerlusconiBlairBushChiracChretienandKoizumi)．Theworld'sthreetopcentralbankers(GreenspanDuisenbergandHayami)areallclosetothetopofthealphabetevenifoneofthemreallyusesJapanesecharacters．Thesamecasearetheworld'sfiverichestmen(GatesBuffetandsoon)．

　　Canthismerelyhappenbychance?Atthestartofthefirstyearinprimaryschoolteachersseatpupilsalphabeticallyfromthefronttomakeiteasiertoremembertheirnames．SoshortsightedZysmanjuniorgetsstuckinthebackrowandisseldomaskedtheimprovingquestionsbythoseteachers．Atthattimethealphabeticallydisadvantagedmaythinktheyhavehadaluckyescape．Yettheresultmaybeworsequalificationsbecausetheygetlessattentionaswellaslessconfidenceinspeakingpublicly．

　　Theunfairnesscontinues．AtuniversitygraduationpartiestheABCsproudlygettheirawardsfirst．HoweverbythetimetheyreachtheZysmansmostpeoplearealittletired．Listsofjobinterviewsandconferencespeakersandattend