The flag, the most common symbol(象征) of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.

The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive(原始的)artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years' development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.

Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers .People's food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.

Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems(图腾) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.

 These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe ,where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag.

The best title for the passage would be______.

A. Power of the National Flag         B. Uses of Flag

C. Types of Flags                     D. Development of the National Flag

The underlined word “vulnerable” in Paragraph 3 means_____

A. impossible to make sure of         B. difficult to find

C. likely to be protected             D. easy to damage

The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because______

A. they were believed to stand for natural forces

B. they could bring good luck to fighters

C. they were handed down by the ancestors

D. they could tell wind direction

What does the author know of the first national flag?

A. He thinks it came from            B. He believes it was made in Egypt

C. He doubts where it started.    D. He knows when it was sent to Europe

What was the author most probably talk about next?

A. The role of China in the spread of the national flag.

B. The second ancestor of the national flag.

C. The use of modern flags in Europe   

D. The importance of modern flags

It’s not only rocket scientists and journalists who are following the course of “Shenzhou V”,or “Divine ship/vessel V”.There are also lexicographers,or dictionary compilers.The flight of the Spacecraft last week might help put some new words into orbit.?

One of them is a western media coinage used to refer to the Chinese astronauts.It s a combination of the Chinese pinyin “taikong”,meaning space,and the English “astronaut”,from classical Greek:“star sailor/navigator”,for people who was going into space as a career.

In the Reuters and AP reports of October 15,“taikonaut” was used as a proper noun.For example:The long March 2F rocket carrying “taikonaut” Yang Liwei lifted off into a clear blue sky over the Gobi desert at 9 am and entered its orbit 10 minutes later.?

A Long March 2F rocket called the Shenzhou V—“divine ship” in Chinese—carried a single “taikonaut” named Yang Liwei,38,following Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and American Alan Shepard in 1961.?

The word “taikonaut” is not a newly coined term.It first emerged in November,1999,when China launched its first unmanned “Shenzhou Ⅰ” spacecraft.?

At that lime,some English news media predicted that China would soon launch a manned space flight and created the word “taikonaut” for the Chinese astronauts.It was then borrowed by the Germans media.?

But it was left out of mainstream dictionaries,such as the Merriam—Webster Dictionary and Cambridge Advanced English ?

Learner’s Dictionary.?

However,the launch of the “Shenzhou V” will most likely help boost its status since there is already a word referring specifically to Russian astronauts in the dictionary entry.?

An astronaut of Russian (or the former Soviet Union)is called a “cosmonaut”,from the Russian “kosmonaut”.The word was derived from classical Greek:“kosmonaut” (universal)and “nautes”.One might argue that “cosmonaut” is a Russian variation on the earlier word “astronaut”.

On March 14,1995,US astronaut Norman Thagard became the first American to ride into space on-board a Russian launch vehicle,arguably making him the first American cosmonaut.?

And if this trend of coinage continues,more English variations for astronaut will appear as more countries are able to send their own astronauts into outer space,what would Western journalists call an astronaut from India or Africa we’ll have to wait to see.?

66.Give the best title of the passage.(within 10 words)?

解析:主旨大意题。本文主要介绍了因为中国载人航天事业的发展而派生的一个新英语词汇“taikonaut”的由来。?