Why People Use Pseudonyms
You can’t choose the name you are given at birth， but in many countries you can change it legally when you reach adulthood.. Of course， most people never change their names _1__ they feel unhappy about them. However， some people do _2__ this course of action- particularly artists！ What makes an artist want to change their name? Sometimes it’s for purely _3__ reasons， such as the Nobel Prize winning poet from Chile， Neftali Reyes. He didn’t want his father to _4__ he was writing poetry， so he changed his name to Pablo Neruda when he was a young man. _5__ other times the reason may appear eccentric; take the case of the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa， _6__ wrote under 75 different names. The reason? “When I use a different name， I always write in a different way，” he explained. In most cases， _7__， the reason is for social， historical， or cultural reasons. Here are some of the most _8__:
The person’s real name is just _9__ long and difficult to remember. Let’s be honest， Madonna Louise Ciccone is not as _10__ to remember as just plain “Madonna”. And short names are much easier to remember: William Bradley became Brad Pitt and Edson Arantes do Nascimento became Pele.
Sometimes names are changed for marketing _11__. For example， if a name sounds too “foreign”， it may be changed to something that is more recognizable in a _12__. So in the film world， Ramon Estevez adopted the name Martin Sheen. Or maybe the artist’s real name doesn’t sound very attractive—Chad Everett does _13__ a lot better than Raymond Cramton.
Artists sometimes _14__ the name of someone they admire. Robert Zimmerman changed his name to Boo Dylan because of his admiration for the Welsh poet， Dylan Thomas.
Another reason may be practicality: in the past， women found it very difficult to get published. To _15__ this situation they sometimes gave themselves men’s names， so the English author Mary Ann Evans became George Eliot， and she did get her books published！
1. A as if B as C even if D even
2. A take B make C do D have
3. A private B individual C own D personal
4. A understand B know C recognize D observe
5. A At B On C In D During
6. A whom B which C who D that
7. A but B although C though D however
8. A popular B common C ordinary D average
9. A so B too C very D much
10. A easy B short C simple D brief
11. A aims B ends C goals D purposes
12. A market B film C country D business
13. A look B sound C appear D seem
14. A choose B give C change D get
15. A admit B assure C avoid D affect