题目列表(包括答案和解析)
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We can see the 1) __________ between American English British English but they are different sometimes. Many students want to know about the 2) __________ between American English and British English.
At first the language in Britain and America was the same. In 1776 America became a (an) 3) __________ country. After that, the language slowly began to change. For a long time the language in America stayed the same, while the language in England changed. For example, 300 years ago the English talked about "fall".
Today, most British people talk about "autumn", but Americans still talk abut "fall". In the same way Americans still use the expression "I guess" 4) __________ "I think", just as the British did 300 years ago.
At the same time, British English and American English started borrowing words from other languages, 5) __________ with different words. For example, the British took "typhoon" from Chinese, while the Americans took "tornado" from Spanish.
In 1828 Noah Webster published the first American dictionary. He wanted to make American English different from British English, so he changed the spelling of many words. That’s why the words "colour", "centre" and "traveller" are spelt "color", "center" and "traveler" in American English. Except for spelling, written English is more or less the same in both British and American English.
They are also different in the spoken language. For example, Americans say dance /dæns/, and in southern England they say /dɑ?ns/. In America they 6) p__________ not /nɑt/; in southern England they say /n?t/. However, most of the time people from the two countries do not have any trouble in understanding each other.
Anderson was born in the slums(贫民区) of Odense, Denmark, on April 2,1805. His early life was not easy. His father was a shoemaker and his mother worked as a washerwoman. He received little early education. As a child he was very emotional and was laughed at for being feminine(女性化)and tall.
In l8l6 his father died and Andersen was forced to go out to work. first in a tailor’s shop and then at a tobacco factory. At the age of l4 Anderson moved to Copenhagen to start a career as a singer and actor. He struggled for three years until he had to leave the theatre when his voice broke in l822.
Anderson went to a grammar school after he left the theatre. Having done well he was admitted to Copenhagen University in 1828.
He began to publish his fairy tales in 1835. They came out in small volumes(量) until his death. Nowadays, children all around the world are familiar with his fairy tales such as “The Little Mermaid ”(《美人鱼》),“The Princess and the Pea” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. The colourful characters from the stories made us laugh and cry throughout our childhood. Although Anderson lived a hard life, he tried to make people laugh in all his stories. He wrote because he didn’t want children to have a sad childhood as he did. “Being born in a duck yard does not matter, if only you are hatched(孵化) from a swan’s egg,” he once said.
The work brought Anderson world fame, but he remained a lonely man. He loved three women in his life but none of them loved him back and he never married. His friends were the people that paid for his work and not people he was particularly close to. “Just living is not enough…One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower,’’ he said.
Anderson died on August 4, l 875.
Anderson
91._______ | Identity | Events | Time | 97. ________ | 99. ______ |
Anderson | 92. _______ | working | after 1816 | make a living | poor |
| singer | perform | 95. ________ | be a singer | hard |
93. _______ | study | in 1828 | 98._______ | well | |
writer | 94. ______ | 96. ________ | make children happy | 100. ________ |
French novelist Jules Verne (1828—1905) is often called the father of science fiction. Although he was not a great traveler himself, his characters travelled to the moon (in From the Earth to the Moon), under the sea (in Twenty thousand leagues under the sea), into a volcano (in A journey to the centre of the earth), around the world (in Around the World in Eighty Days) and to many other places.
Jules Verne was born in the French city of Nantes in 1828. When he was a boy he ran away from home to work on a ship. However, his father soon found him and brought him home. After that he decided that any future travel he did would be in books. In 1847 his father sent Jules to Paris to study to be a lawyer. Even though he was busy writing, Verne passed his exams in 1849 with high marks.
When Jules told his father he did not want to be a lawyer, his father was very angry. He stopped sending his son any money, so Jules had to earn a living by his writing. Over the next few years he wrote many stories and plays, which brought him only a little money. Then, in 1856, he met Honorine de Viane, a rich, young widow with two children. The couple married the next year.
After his marriage, Verne worked as a businessman in Paris. However, he was not very successful at his job and spent most of his time writing books and doing research for the next one. In 1863 he published his novel Five Weeks in a balloon and the following year he published A Journey to the centre of the earth which made him famous. His books became so popular and earned him so much money that he was able to leave his job and work full time on his writing.
In his Lifetime, Jules Verne wrote more than 50 books and he became a rich man. Many of this imaginative novels have been turned into films.
1.When Jules Verne was brought home by his father, he decided that ________.
A.he would devote himself to writing
B.he would go on more travels in the future
C.he would stop writing about future travels
D.he would do what his father required
2.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.He was not good at his schoolwork.
B.He went to Paris because he wanted to be a lawyer.
C.His early stories and plays didn’t bring in much money.
D.He got married in 1856.
3.Jules Verne became rich mainly because of his ________.
A.family B.marriage C.business D.writing
4.Which book can be considered as a turning point in Jules Verne’s life?
A. From the Earth to the Moon.
B. Five Weeks in a Balloon.
C. A Journey to the Center of the Earth.
D. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
5.Which can we infer from the passage?
A.Jules Verne’s stories and plays were liked by film makers.
B.Jules Verne was not clever enough to learn law.
C.Jules Verne’s wife helped him a lot in his writing career.
D.Jules Verne’s stories and plays made him famous in the 1850s.
When most of us hear the word chocolate, the verb that comes to mind is probably “eat”, not “drink”, and the most proper adjective would seem to be “sweet”. But for about 90 percent of chocolate’s long history, it was strictly a beverage (饮料), and sugar didn’t have anything to do with it.
The Origin of Chocolate
Many modern historians have estimated that chocolate has been around for about 2000 years, but recent research suggests that it may be even older.
In the book The True History of Chocolate, authors Sophie and Michael Coe prove that the earliest linguistic (语言学的) evidence of chocolate consumption dates back three or even four thousand years.
Valuable and Fashionable Chocolate Beverage
It’s hard to discover exactly when chocolate was born, but it’s clear that it was cherished from the start. For several centuries in pre-modern Latin America, cacao beans were considered valuable enough to use as currency. 100 beans could purchase a good turkey hen, according to a 16th-century Aztec document.
Sweetened chocolate didn’t appear until Europeans discovered the Americas and sampled (品尝) the native cuisine. Chocolate didn’t suit the foreigners’ taste at first — one described it in his writings as “a bitter drink for pigs” — but once mixed with honey or cane sugar, it quickly became popular throughout Spain. By the 17th century, chocolate was a fashionable drink throughout Europe, believed to have nutritious, medicinal functions. But it remained largely a privilege of the rich until the invention of the steam engine made mass production possible in the late 1700s.
The Birth of Solid Chocolate
In 1828, a Dutch chemist found a way to make powdered chocolate. His product became known as “Dutch cocoa”, and it soon led to the creation of solid chocolate. In 1847, Joseph Fry created the first modern chocolate bar. By 1868, a little company called Cadbury was marketing boxes of chocolate candies in England. Milk chocolate hit the market a few years later.
Prosperous Chocolate Industry
In America, chocolate was so valued during the Revolutionary War that it was used instead of wages. Even now, statistics show that the humble cacao bean is still a powerful economic force. Chocolate manufacturing is a more than 4-billion-dollar industry in the United States, and the average American eats at least half a pound of the stuff per month.
1.The earliest chocolate was most probably _________.
A. a dish B. a drink C. a bar D. a candy
2. It can be inferred from the passage that ________________.
A. the history of chocolate is at most 4,000 years.
B. people around the world could buy things with chocolate.
C. chocolate was well paid attention to since it was born.
D. an American at least eats a pound of chocolate per month.
3.Why did chocolate suit the Spanish’s taste so quickly? _________
A. Because chocolate was so tasty and bitter.
B. Because chocolate was believed to be a source of nutrition.
C. Because chocolate was sweetened with honey or cane sugar.
D. Because chocolate became a fashionable beverage.
4.Which one shows the correct order according to the time of their appearing? _________
A. chocolate beverage----chocolate bar----chocolate candies----milk chocolate
B. chocolate bar----chocolate beverage----chocolate candies----milk chocolate
C. chocolate bar ----chocolate candies ----milk chocolate ---- chocolate beverage
D. chocolate beverage ----chocolate candies----chocolate bar---- milk chocolate
"Colour" and "color","favourite" and "favorite"... Have you ever wondered why Americans spell those words without a "u"? Is it because they are lazy?
Of course not. In fact,the difference in spelling was created by Noah Webster (1758-1843). He is a teacher who reformed English to make American identity stronger. Linguists (语言学家) celebrated his 250th birthday on October 16. After the Revolutionary War (1775~ 1783),Webster believed that Americans should have their own dictionary,rather than rely on British versions (版本). He dropped the British "u" in some words. And he changed "centre" into "center" for children to learn English by spelling words more like they sounded.
Webster wasn't shy about expressing his opinions. In defining (定义) preposterous (unreasonable),he wrote: "A republican government in the hands of females is preposterous."
Webster spent 28 years on the project before completing the 70,000-word dictionary in 1828 with his American-style spellings. He also added local words. His dictionary was widely used in schools. Linguists believed it helped a new nation achieve unity and cultural independence at a time when most were focused on political freedom.
"He was the shaper of our language and the shaper of American identity,"said Joshua Kendall,who is working on a biography (传记) about Webster. "He at last bonded (联合)us through our language."
1.Which of the following would probably be the best title for the passage?
A.The shaper of American English.
B.American identity.
C.Webster's dictionary.
D.Spelling differences between American and British English.
2.According to the passage,when he worked on his dictionary, Noah Webster did all of the following EXCEPT .
A.voicing his opinion B.changing "centre" into "center"
C.adding local words D.dropping "u" in all the British words
3.Which of the following word can best describe Noah Webster’s work?
A.Interesting. B.Meaningful. C.Unfinished. D.Boring.
4.Why did Noah Webster create these differences in his dictionary?
A.Because he wanted to make English simple and easy.
B.Because he wanted to show that the USA is stronger than the UK.
C.Because he wanted to achieve political freedom.
D.Because he wanted American English to have its own characteristics.
5.When did Noah Webster probably begin his project of the dictionary?
A.In 1758. B.In 1783. C.In 1800. D.In 1828.
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