Late last year, I needed to transport some furniture from our house to my son’s flat in central London. I should have paid a man to do it, but foolishly confident in my driving ability, I decided to hire a lorry and drive it myself.
Moving the lorry backward in my yard, I crashed into a small shed, causing permanent damage. Fortunately, I owned the shed. I loaded up with the furniture and set out. By now it was rush hour. My nerves broke down, as I drove the huge lorry through the streets nervously.
At last I arrived at Charlotte Street and found an available parking space. I moved the lorry into it only to notice three people at a pavement cafe waving to me. I got out, trembling violently, like one who had just finished a stormy Atlantic crossing. “You’ve hit the car parked behind you,” they said. I examined the car. There were white scratches on its front face. It bore a disabled sign. So, now I was a bad driver and a bad man. Under the severe look of the three, I left an apologetic note on the damaged car’s windscreen, giving my phone number.
I unloaded the furniture, dripping the sweat, wanting only to escape from the monster. I drove it back to its base at Edgware. On arrival, the boss told me I must fill it up with petrol before returning it. “Just charge me,” I cried, still shaking with fear. He stared at me with understanding. No doubt he’d witnessed others in this state before. “How about I drive you to a petrol station, you fill up, and I drive it back?” he asked.
He danced the great lorry through the traffic so carefully that it would have shamed me if I had not been so grateful.
1. The man felt ________ to have delivered the furniture himself.| A．grateful | B．proud | C．confident | D．regretful |
| A．driving the lorry was too difficult for him |
| B．he caused a terrible traffic accident |
| C．he was afraid to see the three people |
| D．the furniture was too heavy for him |
| A．he shouldn’t have driven the lorry himself |
| B．he made the traffic accident on purpose |
| C．he shouldn’t have caused trouble for the disabled |
| D．he parked the big lorry on the pavement |
| A．it was thrilling to drive a lorry |
| B．being too confident is foolish |
| C．it was hard to avoid accidents |
| D．the boss was expert in driving |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Once upon a time, there lived a rich man. He had a servant (仆人). He and the servant loved wine and good food very much. Each time the rich man left his home, the servant would drink the wine and eat up all the nice food in the house. The rich man knew what his servant did, but he had never caught his servant doing that.
One morning, when he left home, he said to the servant, “Here are two bottles of poison (毒药) and some nice food in the house. You must take of them.” With these words, he went out.
But the servant knew that the rich man had said was untrue. After the rich man was away from his home, he enjoyed a nice meal. Because he drank too much, he was drunk and fell to the ground. When the rich man came back, he couldn’t find his food and his wine. He became very angry. He woke the servant up. But the servant told his story very well. He said :“a cat had eaten up everything. I was afraid to be punished（惩罚）, so I drank the poison to kill myself.”
1. In fact, it was _______ that drank the wine and ate up all the nice food.| A．the cat | B．himself | C．nobody | D．the servant |
| A．there was in fact poison in the bottles |
| B．did not want the servant to drink his wine |
| C．he wanted to kill the cat |
| D．he wanted to kill the servant |
| A．lazy | B．bad | C．clever | D．kind |
【推荐2】In high school, she was bullied. After college, it was difficult to find a job. But through all the difficult times, Collette Divitto, has had one thing that makes her happy: baking. Divitto, who has Down syndrome (唐氏综合征), decided to channel her passion into a career, opening her own cookie company.
“So actually, I always loved baking, since I was 4 years old. From high school, I had been taking baking classes,” said Divitto, 31. “It was a hard time for me. I had no friends. I didn’t have a social life. I got bullied. I got picked on. And that’s why I had been taking baking classes.”
After high school, Divitto went to Clemson University in South Carolina, but after graduating, it was difficult for her to find jobs. So, she turned to her mom, who helped her create her own job: CEO of Collettey’s Cookies.
“There’re lots of amazing things happening,” Divitto said of the opportunities coming her way. She says her favorite part about running her business is hiring people with disabilities. Collettey’s Cookies helps people with disabilities prepare for their careers, by offering workshops and guidance.
In 2020, just 17.9% of people with a disability were employed. But Divitto believes many want to work, federal law does not require employers to pay them minimum wage. That means companies can pay people with disabilities whatever they think they’re worth — something Divitto is working to change.
She has appealed to society to help create more jobs for people with disabilities, which she hopes gets the attention of Congress. Collettey’s Cookies now has 15 employees, and about half of them are people with disabilities. And they have a strong leader to look up to. “No matter who you are, you can make a great difference in this world,” Divitto said. “Don’t let people bring you down... Do not focus on your disabilities. You only need to focus on your abilities.”
1. What drove Divitto to start her business?| A．Her being bullied. | B．Her mother’s help. | C．Her Down syndrome. | D．Her failure to land a job. |
| A．Merciful. | B．Generous. | C．Considerate. | D．Tolerant. |
| A．The salary the disabled get. | B．The fedal law about the disabled. |
| C．The working conditions of the disabled. | D．The role the disabled plays in the Congress. |
| A．The disabled act as leaders in her company. | B．The government shows no care for the disabled. |
| C．Disabled people have potential to achieve success. | D．Employees show respect for Divitto in her company. |
【推荐3】A Portland, Oregon man has become the first person to travel across Antarctica by himself without receiving any assistance.
Colin O’Brady has completed the 1,500-kilometer trip. He crossed the continent in 54 days. Friends, family and other people followed his progress through messages and pictures he left on social media.
O’Brady spoke with his wife Jenna Besaw by telephone soon after he completed the journey. “It was an emotional call,” she said. “He seemed overwhelmed by love and appreciation, and he really wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of us.”
The 33-year-old O’Brady documented the trip on the social networking services Instagram. He called his journey “The Impossible First”. He wrote that he traveled the last 129 kilometers in one big, final push to the finish line. The distance took over one day to complete. O’Brady wrote, “While the last 32 hours were some of the most challenging hours of my life, they have quite honestly been some of the best moments I have ever experienced.”
The day before, he wrote that he was “in the zone” and thought he could make it to the end without stopping. “I was listening to my body and taking care of the details to keep myself safe,” he wrote. “I called home and talked to my mom, sister and wife. I promised them I would stop when I need to.”
Other people have traveled across Antarctica, but they all had some form of assistance. They either had better, more plentiful supplies or devices that helped move them forward.
In 2016, British explorer Henry Worsley died in his attempt to travel alone across Antarctica unassisted. Worsley’s friend Louis Rudd, also from Britain, is attempting an unaided solo journey in Worsley’s honor. He was competing against O’Brady to be the first to do it. Besaw told the Associated Press that her husband plans to stay in Antarctica until Rudd finishes his trip.
1. What did O’Brady think of his journey in Antarctica?| A．It was pleasant. | B．It was discouraging. |
| C．It was impossible to complete. | D．It was hard to complete. |
| A．Making sure of his safety. | B．Trying to achieve the goal. |
| C．Keeping in touch with them. | D．Stopping the travel halfway. |
| A．To wait for another explorer. | B．To compete with others. |
| C．To help other explorers. | D．To make his victory recognized. |
| A．The Antarctic Continent | B．The Impossible First |
| C．Traveling in Antarctica | D．An Incomplete Journey |
【推荐1】Do I think the sky is falling? Sort of.
My husband and I were recently in Egypt, where the temperature was a bit warm for my tiny princess self. So, we left Egypt. Back home, my dearest friends struggled with health stuff, with family craziness…
The game of life is hard, and a lot of us are playing hurt.
I ache for the world but naturally I’m mostly watching the Me Movie, where balance and strength are beginning to fail. What can we do as the creaking elevator of age slowly arrives? The main solution is to get outside every day, ideally with friends. Old friends even thoughts of them-are my comfort.
Recently I was walking along a beach with Neshama. We go back 50 years. She is 84, short and strong. Every so often, she bent down somewhat tentatively (踌躇地) and picked up small items into a small cloth bag. “What are you doing?”
“I’m picking up micro litter. I try to help where I can.”
I reminded her of an old story. A great warhorse comes upon a tiny sparrow (麻雀) lying on its back with its feet in the air, eyes tightly shut with effort. The horse asks it what it’s doing.
“I’m trying to help hold back the darkness.”
The horse laughs loudly, “That is so funny. What do you weigh?”
And the sparrow replies, “One does what one can.”
This is what older age means. We do what we can.
We continued our walk. Neshama bent tentatively to pick up bits of litter and started to slip, but I caught her and we laughed. We are so physically weak in older age, but friendship makes it all a rowing machine for the soul. We can take it, as long as we feel and give love, and laugh gently at ourselves as we fall apart. We know by a certain age the great lies in our life—if you do or achieve this or that, you will be happy and rich. Love and service make us rich.
1. What contributes most to making the author happy at present?| A．Watching movies. | B．Meeting old friends. |
| C．Traveling in Egypt. | D．Walking on the beach. |
| A．Neshama’s fear. | B．Neshama’s dream. |
| C．The author’s approval. | D．The author’s doubt. |
| A．Determined and helpful. | B．Responsible and caring. |
| C．Narrow-minded but friendly. | D．Bad-tempered but supportive. |
| A．Staying with families. | B．Being rich and healthy. |
| C．Doing what one can. | D．Living a comfortable life. |
【推荐2】An important life lesson that I’ve drawn from running is to run at my own pace. It has guided me in many ways. In particular, it made me challenge the fixed expectations of retirement and aging.
Running is a metaphor (隐喻) for life. I realized this while training for a marathon to celebrate my 60th birthday. All the other runners being faster than me made me embarrassed. But my coach shared some valuable advice; run at your own best pace. Setting a goal or target time could be a limitation. He was right. Over time, I ran more easily and faster. I also enjoyed the experience much more.
I have applied this principle to other areas of my life. Finding a rhythm is not about efficiency or how many things I can get done in a day. It has more to do with what I decide to do at this stage in my life.
Running carries its own set of expectations, including what it means to be a strong runner. But expectations also extend to other areas of life, including what people at certain life stages should be doing or not doing. Expectations at my age can center on how leisure time is spent, decisions about employment, and even the role of a grandmother.
I used to think it was young people who bore peer pressure, but it’s easy to view retirement as another occupation with benchmarks (基准) to be met. We often make what someone else does the reference point. It’s a comparison trap.
Forget what others are doing. Their pace is not necessarily the pace you should run at. Run in your own way. It’s not better or worse — only different.
1. What does the author intend to tell in paragraph 2?| A．The origin of a life principle. | B．Her misunderstanding of running. |
| C．The importance of life expectations. | D．Her unpleasant training experience. |
| A．They are vital for retired people. | B．They vary at different life stages. |
| C．They cover every decision in life. | D．They are usually too high to fulfill. |
| A．Young people often compete with old people. | B．Retired people take up bad occupations. |
| C．Retired people are also under peer pressure. | D．A comparison trap makes young people stronger. |
| A．Retirement can’t stop old people’s dreams. |
| B．People should live life to the fullest. |
| C．People should live at their own speed. |
| D．Running at a fixed pace is beneficial to retired people. |
【推荐3】My mother-in-law asked me to climb a mountain in her rural village. We went through tall and weedy expanse of grass, pulling ourselves up with the help of smooth bamboo trees. Weathered gray rocks dotted tracks only visible to an experienced hiker. The view we were rewarded with halfway up the mountain, fixing our eyes upon the colorful pieces of fields and whitewashed homes set against the deep green hills and a sky so blue that it looked digitally polished, was a side benefit of being there.
Our eyes were mostly on the wild eatable plants that grew on the mountainside. We first came upon the wild mountain bamboo, a plant that was the main part in my mother-in-law’s salted bamboo shoots that, once preserved, could be used all year long in cooking. Along the way, we also encountered another precious wild food — fiddlehead ferns (蕨菜). Those delicate leaves, when stir-fired, were a tasty treat. Once I had purchased fiddleheads at a market in the US. Yet there we were, picking this prized vegetable on our own, with only our labor as the cost.
What we had collected that afternoon looked the same as any other wild mountain bamboo shoots and fiddlehead ferns I had seen before in my mother-in-law’s kitchen. And yet, they felt different to me because I had used my own hands to help pick them and carry them back down the mountain. Spending time and energy gathering these wild plants gave me a deeper appreciation for the food that ends up on the dinner table.
“Many generations have kept this natural lifestyle. We depend on the mountains for our life,” my mother-in-law says. Those mountains and rivers supporting her life aren’t some abstract concept. They are right there, outside her door and within her rural village. Once I saw them through her angle that afternoon, I realized they are closer to me than I ever imagined.
1. Why was the author asked to climb a mountain?| A．To pull some bamboo trees. | B．To enjoy its beautiful scenery. |
| C．To get some wild vegetables. | D．To lake some digital pictures. |
| A．The fresh leaves. | B．The input of labor. |
| C．The rich nutrition. | D．The help from Mother-in-law. |
| A．Nature feeds villagers and sustains their life. |
| B．City people want to settle down in mountains. |
| C．Rural areas are inaccessible to some outsiders. |
| D．Farmers dream of changing the natural lifestyle. |
| A．Humorous. | B．Anxious. | C．Satisfied. | D．Tolerant. |
【推荐1】My kids sit in Gee’s living room and respectfully lift antique Christmas ornaments (装饰品) out of a cardboard box. They giggle at Ann, who is a foreign character to them. Gee stands beside them, quietly explaining each treasure. She tells me that she and Tom built their ornament collection piece by piece. She smiles as we leave with the box.
We first met Tom and Gee in the early days of our marriage. Someone had been returning our garbage cans to the garage each garbage day, and Jim and I had wondered who. Then one day we spotted him: an elderly man who lived across the street.
I baked cookies and left them outside with a thank-you note. When we got home that day, a typed letter had replaced the gift. The letter was from Tom and explained back when he’d been fighting a war, neighbors had taken the time to handle the garbage cans for his young wife, Gee, and he never forgot. Now he paid it forward by doing the same for all of us.
A few years after we’d moved in, Tom died. We photocopied that letter and attached it to one of our own for Gee. We told her how special Tom had been to us. She wrote back and told us she still talked to Tom every day.
These days, we’re piling up boxes of our own. We’re planning a move. We know it’s time to go, and yet we can’t seem to stick the For Sale sign up on the lawn. It’s not just Gee. It’s the man who lets our kids pick peaches off the tree in his front yard. It’s the ladies who leave overflowing baskets for our kids on Easter.
Jim and I agree to wait until January. This Christmas, we’ll decorate our tree with Gee’s ornaments, out of the box labeled in Tom’s handwriting. Maybe I’ll talk to him just as Gee still does. Thank you, I’ll say. For teaching us what it means to be a neighbor.
1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?| A．The kids thought little of these antique Christmas ornaments. |
| B．The kids were fond of these antique Christmas ornaments. |
| C．The kids were afraid of these antique Christmas ornaments. |
| D．The kids had no interest in these antique Christmas ornaments. |
| A．He fought a war from which the author suffered a lot. |
| B．He first met the author at her wedding. |
| C．He was an elderly man whose job was handling garbage cans. |
| D．He helped to handle his neighbors’ garbage cans secretly. |
| A．This is what Tom did for us. |
| B．This is why we didn’t want to move. |
| C．This is what it really means to be a neighbor. |
| D．This is how neighbors help each other. |
【推荐2】The email subject line caught my attention: “Still interested in the Cutlass?” Mom’s car. My finger paused over the computer mouse.
Mom’s 1971 green Cutlass car was a timeless beauty. My favorite childhood memories were of us riding in it. Mom always wore her big sunglasses, with a scarf tied carefully over her head to protect her salon-styled hair. I felt I was riding with a Hollywood star.
These memories were all I had left of Mom. She’d died when I was only 15. Many of her things were given away or sold. The Cutlass had been bought by a collector in Michigan. I’d connected with him years before, asking if he might be interested in selling. He’d politely demurred.
Still, I couldn’t let go of the idea of one day owning it, especially after I got married and became a father. With my daughter, Arden, now 11 and my son, Hudson, now 7. I wished my mom was there to see us all. I told my kids stories about their grandmother. But a story wasn’t the same as a real connection. I’d often imagined that a ride in Mom’s car would change all of that.
Now here was this email. I opened it. “Several people have asked to purchase that classic car.” it read. “It’s time to sell, but I wanted to give you the first option to buy if you’re still interested,” “Absolutely!” I typed.
The day when I drove to check on the car, the collector passed me a small bag. “Mom’s sunglasses!” I cried as I opened the bag.
Finally, the car was transported to my house. My wife took pictures of the “first ride” as the kids climbed in and sat where I had sat so many years ago with my mom behind the wheel. I brought Mom’s glasses into the car with me.
“Can I wear them?” Arden asked, as I started the car.
“You bet,” I said.
I knew Mom loved that.
1. What is the author’s impression of his mom?| A．Aggressive. | B．Distant. | C．Conservative. | D．Fashionable. |
| A．Appeared. | B．Refused. | C．Answered. | D．Continued. |
| A．To sell the car at a much higher price. |
| B．To sec his interest in selling antiques. |
| C．To offer him an opportunity to get the car. |
| D．To tell him the popularity of his mom’s car. |
| A．A surprising email. | B．A family connection. |
| C．A childhood adventure. | D．A shopping experience. |
【推荐3】Siddharth Mandala, 18, the inventor of ElectroShoe, which is a device that enables the user to electrocute (电击) an offender and alarm the nearby police station and friends of their location, using Wi-Fi, has been a hit.
This inventor was inspired into action when he accompanied his mother to the Nirbhaya rallies (集会) in Hyderabad at 12. The streets, thick with anger, had his mind ticking, “There had to be a better way. Women may forget to carry pepper spray or other self-defence tools, but everyone puts on shoes.”
It took him two years to come up with the model, using social media to reach out to those who could help him. Mandala was awarded a letter of appreciation by the government of Telangana for his invention in May 2017.
Siddharth believes technology can truly change the quality of our lives. He launched Cognizance Welfare Initiative (CWI) two years ago to teach coding to students and helped them build micro-controller projects such as a GPS tracking system to locate their friends in dangerous areas.
The Hyderabad-based CWI inspires children to use science to enable them to create solutions for their communities, works to spread awareness about violence and conducts book drives, educates communities on water pollution and helps children improve their reading skills. So far CWI has taught over 500 children and plans to expand to two more villages. Mandala is now working with his friends on developing a programme to identify malignant melanoma (恶性黑素瘤) with a phone camera.
1. Why did Siddharth Mandala invent ElectroShoe?| A．To pass a test. | B．To help women protect themselves. |
| C．To become famous. | D．To earn money for poor children. |
| A．From his teachers. | B．From his parents and friends. |
| C．From the local government. | D．From people who could help. |
| A．Brave. | B．Gentle. | C．Caring. | D．Friendly. |
| A．An Amazing Inventor | B．An Energy-saving Invention |
| C．A Life-changing Trip | D．A promising Programme |
【推荐1】Summer is coming. It is easy to get too much sun. While there's no cure for sunburn, a small but fascinating new study suggests taking large amounts of vitamin D after exposure may prevent the associated redness and inflammation (发炎) of your skin.
In the paper, researchers exposed 20 volunteers to a light resembling（类似） solar radiation to induce a sunburn（晒伤） on a small piece of skin. They then gave the ''burn victims'' large amounts of vitamin D, and followed up with participants one, two and three days (and a week) later to measure skin redness and thickness. The researchers found that vitamin D decreased inflammation and redness, compared with taking a placebo （安慰剂). And this effect increased in proportion to how much was consume（消费）. Vitamin D also appears to increase the activity of a gene（基因）called arginase-1, which is involved in tissue（皮肤组织） repair and healing. Taking 50, 000 international units (IU) of vitamin D-- 125 times the recommended daily allowance——led to a significant reduction in redness and inflammation, compared with the placebo. Those who took 100,000 IU had even less redness and pain; and those who took 200, 000 IU had the greatest reduction in inflammation.
This is the first study to show vitamin D can reduce inflammation, and suggests that it ''could potentially help prevent sunburn, '' says senior author Kurt Lu, a physician scientist and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University.
It used to be thought vitamin D was primarily involved in building healthy bones and muscles, but recent research has found it has many more roles, including influencing inflammation, such as the kind associated with sunburns.
So, if you get burned, should you take a lot of vitamin D? The study authors don't recommend it. ''I think that's probably not a good idea and not well established by this study, '' says Barbara Gilchrest, a physician scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Such large amounts, if taken repeatedly, have the potential to do harm to the health.
1. How do the researchers confirm the healing effect of taking vitamin D?| A．By observing the inflammation of skin every day. |
| B．By measuring the thickness of skin after a week. |
| C．By increasing the daily volume of vitamin. |
| D．By comparing the effect with that of placebo. |
| A．recommend the weekly allowance of Vitamin D. |
| B．argue against the benefits of more Vitamin D. |
| C．show under the control, the more Vitamin D, the greater benefits. |
| D．stress the potential danger of too much Vitamin D. |
| A．Repeatedly taking large amounts of Vitamin D might be harmful. |
| B．Vitamin D brings less advantages to us than what has been found out. |
| C．Don't take vitamin D unless your doctor approves . |
| D．Vitamin D is more useful for curing sunburn than building healthy bones. |
| A．It gives tips for how to travel safely in summer. |
| B．A new study suggests the vitamin D can relieve sunburn. |
| C．It provides a suggestion on taking vitamin D properly. |
| D．It advises us how to take medicine effectively. |
【推荐2】This March is a busy month in Shanghai. There's a lot to do. Here are the highlights.
Live Music - Late Night Jazz
Enjoy real American jazz from Herbie Davis, the famous trumpet player. He's coming with his new 7-piece band, Herbie' s Heroes. Herbie is known to play well into the early hours, so don't expect to get much sleep. This is Herbie' s third visit to Shanghai. The first two were sold out, so get your tickets quickly.
PLACE: The Jazz Club DATES: 15-23 March PRICE: ￥80,120 TIME: 10:00p.m. till late! TEL: 6466-8736
Scottish dancing
Take your partners and get ready to dance till you drop. Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn. Instructors will demonstrate the dances. The live band, Gordon Stroppie and the Weefrees, are also excellent.
PLACE: Jack Stein's DATES: every Monday PRICE: Y60 including one drink TIME: 7:00 - ~0:00 p.m. TEL: 6402-1877
Exhibitions - Shanghai Museum
There are 120,000 pieces on show here. You can see the whole of Chinese history under one roof. It' s always interesting to visit, but doubly so at the moment with the Egyptian Tombs exhibition. There are lots of mummies and more gold than you've ever seen before. Let us know if you see a mummy move!
PLACE: Shanghai Museum PRICE: ￥30 (￥ 15 for students) TEL: 6888-6888 DATES: daily TIME: Monday - Friday 9:00a.m. - 5:00p.m., Weekends 9:00a.m. - 9:00p.m.
Dining - Sushi chef in town
Sushi is getting really big in Shanghai. In Japan, it' s become an art form. The most famous Sushi 'artist' is Yuki Kamura. She' s also one of the few female chefs in Japan. She' ll be at Sushi Scene all of this month.
PLACE: Sushi Scene in the Shanghai Hotel DATES: all month PRICE: ￥200 TIME: lunchtime TEL: 6690-3211
For a full listing of events, see our website.
1. Suppose you are going to attend an activity at 8: 00p.m. on Saturday, which one can you choose?| A．Live Music - Late Night Jazz | B．Scottish dancing |
| C．Exhibitions - Shanghai Museum | D．Dining - Sushi chef in town |
| A．Scottish dancing is so interesting and easy that it never tires you out. |
| B．The performance given by the American jazz band won't last long. |
| C．Sushi is not popular in Shanghai as it is a kind of Japanese traditional food. |
| D．It is more interesting to visit Shanghai Museum for the exhibits from Egypt. |
| A．a cook | B．a waitress |
| C．an instructor | D．an artist |
【推荐3】Language experts say that spoken English was almost the same in the American colonies and Britain two hundred years ago. Americans began to change the sound of their speech after the Revolutionary War in1776. They wanted to make it different to separate themselves from the British in language, in the same way they separated themselves from the British government.
Some American leaders proposed(建议) major changes in the language. Benjamin Franklin wanted a whole new system of spelling. His reforms(改革) were not accepted. But his ideas did influence others. One was Noah Webster.
Webster wrote language books for schools. He believed the United States should have a system of its own language as well as government. Webster published a dictionary of the American language in 1828. It established rules for speaking and spelling the words used in American English.
Webster wrote that all words should be said in the order of the letters that spell them. This is why Americans use the letters “e-r” to end many words instead of the British “r-e.” He spelled the word “center,” for example, “c-e-n-t-e-r,” instead of the British “c-e-n-t-r-e.”
Webster’s rule for saying every part of a word made American English easier for foreign settlers to learn. They learned to say “waist-coat,” for example, the way it is spelled instead of the British “wes-kit.”
The different languages of many people who came to the United States also helped make American and British English different. Many of their foreign words and expressions became part of English As Americans speak them.
Sometimes Americans and British people do not understand each other because of different word meanings. For example, the word “jumper” in Britain means a sweater. In the United States, it is a dress. The British word “brolly” is an “umbrella” in America. And the British call potato chips “crisps”. All of these differences led British writer George Bernard Shaw to joke that Britain and America are two countries separated by the same language!
1. What does the underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refer to?| A．Separating themselves from the British in language. | B．Written English in America. |
| C．Spoken English in America. | D．Spoken English in Britain. |
| A．Because they found British English hard to speak. |
| B．Because they found British English hard to spell. |
| C．Because they wanted to have their own language and government. |
| D．Because foreign settlers wanted them to change their language. |
| A．Because Benjamin Franklin didn’t like the word “metre”. |
| B．Because the word “meter” was absorbed from other languages. |
| C．Because Webster thought the word should be said in order of the letters that are spelt. |
| D．Because Webster thought American English should be made easier for foreign settlers to learn. |
| A．The government leaders. | B．Noah Webster. |
| C．Immigration to America. | D．The difficulty Americans had in understanding the British. |
