斜士保驾銮 : A guard moves one point diagonally. It has one restriction in that it cannot leave the palace. This means that there are only five points which it can occupy.
象走田 : An elephant moves two points diagonally. It may not leap over occupied points. Moreover, elephants are confined to their home side of the river. Due to these limitations, the elephant can see only seven points on the board. The symbols on red and black elephants differ, but their moves are the same.
车行一线 : The chariot moves in a straight line, forward, backward, or sideways.
马走日 : A horse moves one point at a right angle with its original position and the one point outward-diagonally. It may not leap over occupied points. That is, if the first point of a move is blocked by a piece, then the horse may not move in that direction.
隔子飞炮 : A cannon moves like the chariot. It captures an opponent piece by jumping over one piece. But it may never jump over more than one piece in a given move.
兵卒步步直向前 : The soldier can move only one point forward at a time. Once a soldier crosses the river, it acquires the power to move sideways, but it can never move backwards. When it reaches the opposing back rank, moreover, it can only move sideways.
Notes：1）angle角度；2）limitation限制；3）cannon炮；4）opposing对面的；5）file纵列
8.什么是麻将？
What is the majiang?
Majiang is a social game of Chinese origin that enjoys worldwide popularity. The English name is simply the transliteration of the Chinese name. It is played with four players. Majiang game pieces (tiles) and scoring rules used in China have slight regional variations.
Tiles maybe are made of bamboo, wood, ivory, bone, or a kind of plastic used in domino games. The game itself bears resemblance to Rummy, a Western card game, but it is much more sophisticated and versatile. It allows for diverse strategies and demands greater concentration. It provides constant new challenges and maintains players’ interest even after countless hours of play. Majiang can be played as a social game between friends or in a competitive tournament. It is easy to learn, but impossible to master it completely.
Notes：1）transliteration音译；2）plastic塑料制品；3）domino多米诺骨牌；4）Rummy一种纸牌戏；5）versatile多用途的；6）diverse不同的；7）countless数不尽的；8）competitive竞争的；9）tournament锦标赛
9怎样辨别麻将的牌名？
What do majiang pieces consist of?
A majiang set is usually composed of 144 pieces which consist of small rectangular tiles or blocks faced with various characters and designs. There are 108 suit tiles, which are marked with circles, characters or bamboo; 28 honor tiles, which are marked with winds and dragons and 8 flower or seasonal tiles as follows:
a. The 108 suit tiles are made up of three suits numbered one through nine, with circles, characters or bamboos (条子、饼子、万子), four of each number.
b. The 16 suit tiles are marked with four winds—east, south, west, north (东风、西风、南风、北风), four for each wind.
c. The 12 suit tiles are marked with three dragons—white, green, red (白板、发财 /绿发、红中), four for each dragon.
d. The eight flower or seasonal tiles are marked with four flowers—spring, summer, autumn and winter or plum blossom, orchid, chrysanthemum and bamboo (春夏秋冬或梅兰菊竹), two for each flower or season.
Notes：1）rectangular长方形的；2）suit组；3）orchid兰花；4）chrysanthemum菊
10.你对麻将的历史知道多少？
What is the history of majiang?
The early evolution of majiang is lost to us. The only certain thing that can be said is that it developed from an old Ming-Dynasty domino-type game called madiao (马吊牌) which employed 40 cards numbered one to nine plus four flower cards. Tiles replaced cards because the cards tended to get blown away when playing at windy places. During the Qing Dynasty, various different tiles came to be used, and the game was played with 108 pieces. At some later date, as many as 160 tiles were used to play a variant of the game, but the number was subsequently reduced to make the game more playable. Majiang in its modern form is, in all probability, no more than 150 years old. In the 1920s, the game was introduced to the Western world.
But when it is played in other parts of the world, the rules may differ greatly. Thus players, previously unknown to each other, meet a lengthy discussion of the rules to be used is almost inevitable. The rule variations can be categorized in three major groups: Chinese, Japanese and American, each consisting of matching tiles according to different layouts.
Notes：1）subsequently其后；2）playable可玩的；3）pro-bability可能性；4）lengthy冗长的；5）inevitable不可避免的