Teacher, I saw a photo online of a gas station with “中国加油” written on it. Does that mean cheering China on?

No. “加油” has two meanings: one is “to work hard,” and the other is to put fuel in a car. That’s the name of the gas station.

But its colors and appearance are almost exactly like those of China National Petroleum.

Right, so a lot of people mistook it for one. During the National Day holiday, some people used their phones to look for China National Petroleum, but when they drove there, they found “中国加油” instead.

Was the map wrong?

The map still said “中国石油.” This gas station used to cooperate with China National Petroleum, but later they stopped working together, so it changed “石” to “加.”

They changed just one character! If you don’t look carefully, you really can’t tell the difference.

Exactly. It’s a privately owned gas station now, but it still looks like China National Petroleum, and many people feel that isn’t quite right. From now on, when you stop for gas, make sure you look carefully before pulling in.

Looks like you can’t misread even a single Chinese character. By the way, Teacher, I have an exam tomorrow—please cheer me on too!