The question this week comes from our listener Herve Acard, who asks about the American word “OK”, which means “all right” or “acceptable”. It expresses agreement or approval. The word is used more often than any other word in the world.
Language expert Allen Walker Read said the word began as a short way of writing a different spelling of the words “all correct”. Old stories say some foreign-born people would write “all correct” as o-l-l k-o-r-r-e-c-t and spoke it as “OK”. Some people say it came from the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaws. The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word “OK”. Experts say early explorers in the Western America spoke the Choctaw language in the nineteenth century. The language spread across the country.
According to some people, “OK” was a way to shorten Greek words that mean everything is fine. It is also said that a railroad worker named Obadiah Kelly invented the word. He is said to have put the first letters of his names — O and K — on each object people gave him to place on the train.
Another explanation is that “OK” was invented by a political organization that supported Martin Van Buren for president in the 1800s. They called their organization the OK Club. The letters O and K were taken from the name of the town where Martin Van Buren was born — Old Kinderhook, New York.
Not everyone agrees with these explanations, but experts do agree that the word is purely American and has spread to almost every country on Earth. Yet in the United States, it is used mostly in speech. Serious writers prefer using words, such as “agree”, “approve” or “confirm” instead.
【小题1】Where does the passage probably come from?
A.A newspaper. | B.A textbook. |
C.A radio program. | D.A language magazine. |
A.The OK Club |
B.The Choctaw word “okeh” |
C.The word invented by Martin Van Buren |
D.The short form of “all correct” |
【小题1】C
【小题2】B
【小题3】B
解析试题分析:本文叙述了“OK”这个词的历史,对于它的来历不同的人有不同的观点,最后短文指出专家认为它是真正的美国人的语言,然后传到了地球上的各个地方。
【小题1】文章出处题。根据短文开头The question this week comes from our listener Herve Acard,这个问题来自听众,所以应是收音机广播电台的节目,故选C。
【小题2】细节理解题。根据The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word “OK”它们的意思是一样的,故选B。
【小题3】细节理解题。根据Not everyone agrees with these explanations,一些人不同意这个解释,故选项A符合原文;has spread to almost every country on Earth.它已经被传到了世界各地,故选项C符合原文;the word began as a short way of writing a different spelling of the words “all correct”它是“all correct”的缩写,故选项D符合原文,故选B。
考点:文化类短文阅读。
点评:文章出处题应从文章的内容或结构来判断其出处:报纸:前面会出现日期、地点或通讯社名称。广告:因其格式特殊,容易辨认。产品说明:器皿、设备的使用说明会有产品名称或操作方式,而药品的服用说明会告知服用时间、次数、药量等。本篇短文主要看的是开头的第一句。
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
When you don’t have anything planned for the day or it’s rainy outside and your children are stuck in the house, why not sit around and tell them riddles? Telling riddles will make your family laugh and sometimes even scratch their heads, trying to figure out what the answer is.
Riddles have been a pastime for centuries. Not only have riddles been something for passing the time, but they have also been used to pass on secret information during the Second World War. Even the ancient Greeks used riddles. They would tell riddles at parties and whoever was the first to get them right would receive prize.
Most riddles use words that have double meanings or share the same sound like “hear” and “here”. So in order to get the riddle, you will have to do some creative thinking and think of all the possibilities of different words. The difficulty of figuring out the riddle is based on the riddle itself. The riddle has to provide you with enough clues to come to the right answer, but that doesn’t mean that the clues have to be easy.
If you are looking to tell riddles but don’t know any, you can look online and you will find a large number of sites that will have hundreds of different riddles to choose from. If you would like to look somewhere else then you could look at your local bookstore, where you will be able to find many different books with thousands of riddles to choose from. You can even find websites and books that will tell you how to write your own riddles.
After you have found some resources that have different riddles, you will need to read through them to find the right ones for you and your family: You will also need to make sure that your kids will have a chance to figure out the answers. So take your time and choose the right family riddles to tell.
【小题1】What is the author’s main purpose in writing the text?
A.To recommend an interesting family activity. |
B.To stress the importance of family activities. |
C.To encourage children to read more books. |
D.To introduce the history of riddles. |
A.do not have enough clues | B.have a very long history |
C.were used in World War One | D.were first used in ancient Rome |
A.discusses how riddles are created |
B.explains why fiddles are interesting |
C.tells people how to solve riddles |
D.shows the benefits of telling riddles |
A.one way | B.two ways | C.three ways | D.four ways |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:单选题
Last winter, when I was heavily pregnant, I was visiting my sister and brother-in-law's house and had to park in a nearby parking lot because they didn't have accessible parking. The snow was extremely heavy and there was lots of ice on the ground --- not many people had ventured out that evening!
When I returned to my car around 11pm, I noticed that I was the only car left. Nervously, I hopped into the car and let it warm up a bit. When I finally tried to drive away, my wheels began to spin. I was stuck! I spun and spun and wondered what to do.
All of a sudden, in my rear view mirror, I saw four teen-aged boys approaching my car. They were walking side by side in a line and dressed a bit like gang members --- at least I thought that's what they looked like. My car was in a very isolated area and I began to panic. I was certain they were coming to my car to harm me. Terrified, I just froze. One of the young men tapped on my window and said "Excuse me, Ma'am, can we help you? You seem stuck." Still afraid and fearing the worst, I said "I am stuck." And the young man said "It's okay, stay in your car and we'll push you out of the snow." And they did!
When they finally got me out of the snow, they smiled and waved. I rolled down my window and thanked them, embarrassed to have judged them so poorly.
【小题1】Why did the author just freeze when the four young men walking toward her car?
A.Because she was afraid of being harmed. |
B.Because she sat in her car for too long a time. |
C.Because she was cold indeed in that freezing evening. |
D.Because she knew they would rob her of the car. |
A.Impolite. | B.Ill-mannered. |
C.Unfriendly | D.Warm-hearted. |
A.One of the four teenagers was a gang member. |
B.The kids wanted to help the author out of trouble. |
C.The author would have a baby in her car. |
D.The young men enjoyed pushing cars out of the snow. |
A.Every man has his faults |
B.Fortune favors those who use their judgment |
C.Don't judge a book by its cover |
D.Think twice before you do. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
As a first –year teacher at a Christian school ,I was expecting my fifth grade students to be prefect , perfect in behavior , in attitude , and I even expected the home-life of each student to be nearly perfect . I found , of course , that these students were not different from the children I taught in public school .These kids had behavior problems , bad attitudes ,and some even had strikingly difficult family lives .
One of my students in particular stands out in my mind .I’ll call him Timothy for safety’s sake. During the first day of class , I noticed that Timothy was different .Not only in physical appearance , but he also spoke strangely , as though a 35-year-old man were trapped inside his tiny , weak body .On many occasions , I heard Timothy speak of hate, how he hated his family .
I observed Timohy for several months and read up on his background and searched for any clue that would lead me closer to understanding this child’s strange behavior .Finally I was directed to Timothy’s older brother’s cheating in an exam and had taken his anger out on Timothy at home .Timothy’s parents , in turn , had contacted the school, blaming them for Timothy’s problems.
I had written a letter to the administration asking that Timothy see a counselor(咨询师). The school was in the process of contacting a counselor when Timothy was transferred to another school. His father hurried around my room collecting Timothy’s things and left. That is the last we have seen or heard from Timothy. I was left with an empty desk and a broken heart. I cried for days afterwards. I felt as though I had done Timothy a disservice …I did not help him when he needed me. I still think about Timothy every day, and pray for him every morning.
【小题1】 What was wrong with Timothy?
A.He seemed to have deep emotional problems. |
B.He seemed not to be getting along well with his classmates. |
C.He mainly had behavior problems at school. |
D.He wanted to transfer to another school. |
A.He looked old in appearance but lively in spirit. |
B.He looked common but talked strangely. |
C.He spoke strangely and looked weak in body. |
D.He acted as if he were as experienced as a 35-year-old man. |
A.his father treated him differently from his brother. |
B.his family didn’t care about what he was doing at school. |
C.his father blamed the teachers for his problems. |
D.his brother treated him in an unreasonable way. |
A.something meaningless | B.something harmful |
C.something secret | D.something funny. |
A.Timothy’s father blamed the author for reading his son’s file. |
B.The school didn’t approve Timothy’s seeing a counselor. |
C.The author felt guilty for not helping Timothy in time. |
D.Students at the Christian school don’t have family problems except Timothy. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
I began working in journalism (新闻业) when I was eight. It was my mother’s idea. She wanted me to “make something” of myself, and decided I had better start young if I was to have any chance of keeping up with the competition (竞争).
With my load of magazines I headed toward Belleville Avenue. The crowds were there. There were two gas stations on the corner of Belleville and Union. For several hours I made myself easily seen, making sure everyone could see me and the heavy black letters on the bag that said THE SATURDAY EVENING POST. When it was supper time, I walked back home.
“How many did you sell, my boy?” my mother asked.
“None.”
“Where did you go?”
“The corner of Belleville and Union Avenues.”
“What did you do?”
“Stood on the corner waiting for somebody to buy a Saturday Evening Post.”
“You just stood there?”
“Didn’t sell a single one.”
“My God, Russell!”
Uncle Allen put in, “Well, I’ve decided to take the Post.” I handed him a copy and he paid me a nickel(五分镍币). It was the first nickel I earned.
Afterwards my mother taught me how to be a salesman. I would have to ring doorbells, address adults with self-confidence, and persuade them by saying that no one, no matter how poor, could afford to be without the Saturday Evening Post in the home.
One day, I told my mother I’d changed my mind. I didn’t want to make a success in the magazine business.
“If you think you can change your mind like this,” she replied, “you’ll become a good-for-nothing.” She insisted that, as soon as school was over, I should start ringing doorbells, selling magazines. Whenever I said no, she would scold me.
My mother and I had fought this battle almost as long as I could remember. My mother, dissatisfied with my father’s plain workman’s life, determined that I would not grow up like him and his people. But never did she expect that, forty years later, such a successful reporter as me would go back to her husband’s people for true life and love.
【小题1】Why did the boy start his job young?
A.He wanted to be famous in the future. |
B.The job was quite easy for him. |
C.His mother had high hopes for him. |
D.The competition for the job was serious. |
A.excited | B.interested |
C.ashamed | D.disappointed |
A.the war between the boy’s parents |
B.the arguing between the boy and his mother |
C.the arguing between the boy and his customers(顾客) |
D.the fight between the boy and his father |
A.The early life of a reporter. |
B.The early success of a reporter. |
C.The happy childhood of the writer. |
D.The important role of the writer in his family. |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
President Coolidge’s statement, “The business of America is business,” still points to an important truth today—that business institutions have more prestige(威望)in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige?
One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the ideal of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected.
Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly(垄断)of power. In contrast to one all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers’ dollars, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves.
A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy(民主)in preserving freedom.
Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic(贵族的)idea of inherited privilege.
【小题1】The statement “The business of America is business” probably means ________.
A.America is a great power in world business |
B.Business is of primary concern to Americans |
C.The business institutions in America are concerned with commerce |
D.Business problems are of great importance to the American government |
A.by protecting their individual freedom |
B.when given equality of opportunity |
C.by way of competition |
D.through doing business |
A.People with ideals of equality and freedom. |
B.Both business institutions and government. |
C.Honest businessmen. |
D.Both businessmen and their customers. |
A.its role in protecting basic American values |
B.its absolute control of power |
C.its democratic way of exercising leadership |
D.its function in preserving personal freedom |
A.in many countries success often depends on one’s social status |
B.businesses in other countries are not as competitive as those in America |
C.American businesses are more democratic than those in other countries |
D.Americans are more ambitious than people in other countries |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
“Indeed,” George Washington wrote in his diary in 1785, “some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home.” But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen hade been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lightning-bug(萤火虫). But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Although fan became the usual term, sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseball bugs, and the like.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, “to install (安装) an alarm”. Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others’ conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant “to cheat”, and since the 1940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a flaw in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as “little problems and difficulties” that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison “had been up the two previous nights discovering ‘a bug’ in his invented record player.”
【小题1】 We learn from Paragraph 1 that __________________.
A.Americans had difficulty in learning to use the word bug |
B.George Washington was the first person to call an insect a bug |
C.the word bug was still popularly used in English in the nineteenth century |
D.both Englishman and Americans used the word bug in the eighteenth century |
A.Explanation. | B.Finding. | C.Origin. | D.Fault. |
A.the misunderstanding of the word bug |
B.the development of the word bug |
C.the public views of the word bug |
D.the special characteristics of the word bug |
查看答案和解析>>
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Taiwan-born American director Ang Lee's win of his second directing Oscar has sparked complex feelings among Chinese audiences, who expressed their pride due to the director's Chinese roots, but couldn't help but reflect on why the Chinese mainland has failed to deliver more outstanding films to the world .
Lee, 58, on Sunday accepted the Academy Award for best director for Life of Pi, a 3D adventure-drama film.Lee had won the top directing award in 2006 for Brokeback Mountain and the best foreign language film Oscar in 2001 for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Lee came to Hollywood's attention after directing three Chinese-language films in the early 1990s, with an emphasis on the interactions between modernity and Chinese traditions.Some Web users called Lee "a source of pride for Chinese people," and admired him for bearing the torch of Chinese culture.
However, a large number of audience members and critics from the mainland expressed their frustrations over home-made movies: Mainland filmmakers have made numerous ambitious tries for the prestigious award but never won.
Hao Jie, a young director whose 2010 film Single Man won the Special Jury Prize in the Tokyo Filmex Festival but was never screened in the mainland for it showed complex sex lives in a village.
"Due to the censorship(审查), we are prevented from the beginning of our production, which forbids our works from mirroring realities," Hao said.
While acknowledging the system's role in undermining(削弱) excellent works, Su Mu, a well-known film critic, argued that the atmosphere in the mainland's film circle is also to blame."Lee produces his works with his heart, but most mainland directors now only have money in mind."
Though having obtained approval for his second film from the film authority, Hao said cinemas have kept delaying the screening of his work."This is another factor that prevents us from progressing. Cinemas won't risk showing our film, which features no stars and is considered non-mainstream," complained Hao.
【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “the prestigious award” refer to?
A.the Best Director of Oscar |
B.any of the Oscar Awards |
C.the Special Jury Prize |
D.the best foreign language film Oscar |
A.Ang Lee’s films are always focusing on Chinese traditions. |
B.Chinese audiences are proud of their Chinese identity in the films. |
C.Ang Lee has won the world’s favor only by means of his three Oscars. |
D.Ang Lee is famous for his combining modernity and Chinese traditions. |
A.Strict censorship. |
B.A lack of wonderful directors. |
C.The bad atmosphere in the film circle. |
D.Cinemas’ not risking showing low-cost films. |
A.Ang Lee-Pride of Chinese Movie-makers |
B.The Future of Chinese Mainland Film-making |
C.Bitter-sweet Feeling over Ang Lee’s Oscar Win |
D.What Can Chinese Films Do for the Oscar Awards |
查看答案和解析>>
湖北省互联网违法和不良信息举报平台 | 网上有害信息举报专区 | 电信诈骗举报专区 | 涉历史虚无主义有害信息举报专区 | 涉企侵权举报专区
违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com