8."Indeed,"George Washington wrote in his diary in l785,"some kind of fly,or bug,had begun to hunt on the leaves before I left home."The father of our country was not the father of bug.When Washington wrote that sentence,Englishmen had been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century,and we Americans had already created lightening bug.But the English were soon to get rid of tile 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,an enthusiast or a fanatic,as the Congressional Globe(美国国会议事录)records in l841:"Mr.Alford of Georgia warned the‘tariff bugs'of the South that…he would read them out of church."And although"fan"became the usual term,sports enthusiasts were racing bugs,basketball bugs,and the like.And a bug could be just a plain person with mental disease,confined(限制)to a bughouse.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object,a telegraph key; a dip used by a card sharp to hold cards under the table;even a car,the small,bug-shaped,trademarked Volkswagen beetle.The bug could also be burglar alarm,from which comes the expression to bug,that is,originally"to install an alarm"now a surveillance(监控)device like a hidden microphone.Since the l840s to bug has long meant"to cheat",and since the l940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a fault in a computer program or other design.That meaning dates back long before computers to the laboratory of inventor Thomas Edison.In l878 he explained bugs as"little fault and difficulties"that require"months of anxious watching,study and labor"to overcome in developing a successful product.In l889 it was recorded that Edison"had been up the two previous nights discovering‘a bug'in his phonograph(留声机)".
46.Who called insects as bugs in the 19th century?B
A.The English. B.The Americans
C.George Washington D.The author's father.
47.When did"bug"have the meaning"a fault in a computer program or other design?"A
A.Thomas Edison used it first in l878.
B.After George Washington wrote it in his diary.
C.Someone recorded Thomas Edison's work and used it first in 1889
D.After Mr.Alford used it in his speech.
48.What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?B
A.How Edison found a bug. B.More meanings of bug
C.Computers have faults D.Discovery costs patience
49.From the passage we can infer thatD
A.George Washington found the bug first
B.England is more developed than America.
C.The English like animals.
D.The author is an American.
50.The text is most probably taken fromC
A.a diary B.a newsreel
C.a textbook D.a comic book of science.
分析 本文为一篇说明文.主要介绍了bug一词的不同含义及发展过程.它可以指一个对某种活动着迷的人,也可以指一种小型机器或物体,还可以指防盗设备以及窃听设备.如今,它可以指代电脑程序或其他设计中出现的缺陷,而在爱迪生时代,它指代发明中遇到的一些困难或问题.
解答 答案:46.A 细节理解题.文章第一段说leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries到了十九世纪,英国人已经不用bug这个词了,把它留给了美国人.故选A.
47.A 细节理解题.文章最后一段说That meaning dates back long before computers to the laboratory of inventor Thomas Edison.In l878 he explained bugs as"little fault and difficulties"that require"months of anxious watching,study and labor"to overcome in developing a successful product在1878年,爱迪生把电脑中出现的错误解释为bug.故选A.
48.B 段落大意题.最后一段说We also know the bug as a fault in a computer program or other design单词bug还可以指电脑中出现的错误.故选B.
49.D 推理判断题.文章第一段说we Americans had already created lightening bug我们美国人已经创造了萤火虫这个单词.故选D.
50.C 推理判断题.文章介绍了bug一词的不同含义及发展过程,文中出现了大量的数据和实例,应该是来自课本.故选C.
点评 阅读理解是考查语篇理解能力.常考的题型有:推理判断题;主旨大意题;细节理解题;猜测词意题.近几年又出现了两种新的考查方式:写作态度判断题和文章结构题.解题时,在读懂文章的基础上,还有特别注意掌握题型的特征,尤其是细节题和推断题不可混淆:细节题是文章信息的再现;推断题是文章信息的提取.本题是广告类文章,考查主要是以细节题为主,细节题要注意常用的出题陷阱有:夸大,缩小,张冠李戴,偷梁换柱,无中生有等,做题时要看清看准.