Mostly, only a single answer is correct to a question. But there is a question that has numberless correct answers. That question is “What’s your name?” Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?.
People’s first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the names of a grandparent or other members of the family is used. Some parents choose the name of a well-known person. A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”.
The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near a brook; someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, Smiths were very important workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are: Carter—a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter—a person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village. the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John who was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or –son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish people added Mac- or Mc- or O-. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.
1. Which of the following is NOT covered in the surnames of the passage?| A．People’s occupations. | B．People’s characters. |
| C．Places where people lived. | D．Talents that people possessed. |
| A．made kitchen tools or containers.(容器） | B．made things with metals |
| C．owned or drove a cart | D．built houses and furniture |
| A．Beatrice Smith | B．Leonard Carter |
| C．Donald Greenwood | D．George Longstreet |
| A．ancestors ( 祖先 ） | B．later generations |
| C．friends and relatives | D．colleagues and partners |
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【推荐1】When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble—a word game—against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against.
I wasn't sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 15 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents' home. And so began my mother's adventure in the world of computers.
It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I'd taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She had been the one teaching me all my life: to cook and sew, to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.
It wasn't easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing. This proved to be a bigger challenge to her, so I gave her some homework. I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.
“Are you this demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.
“No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”
My mother isn't the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy. For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we've had in the past 20 years.
1. Why did the author decide to give her mother a computer?| A．To help her through the bad times. | B．To make her life more enjoyable. |
| C．To support her in doing her homework. | D．To let her have more chances to write letters. |
| A．She is a teacher. | B．She is a cook. |
| C．She is a housewife. | D．She is a computer engineer. |
| A．To keep in touch with her mother. | B．To practice what her mother had learned. |
| C．To free her mother from heavy housework. | D．To prevent her mother from using the telephone. |
| A．He played even more games. | B．He became skilled at it. |
| C．He lost interest in cooking. | D．He talked with the author more by phone. |
【推荐2】An 18-year-girl Kayla Perkins explains what is in her bedroom, “I throw something on the floor and I know right where it is.” However, her parents, Steve and Deborah Perkins, don’t think so. Even Kayla admits that, at the worst, her room is a mess.
Most families at some point have at least one child whose room looks like a landfill.
Some parents let it go, believing that a bedroom is private space for children to manage as they wish.
Mrs. Perkins says they picked up all the clothes on Kayla’s floor and hid them. They cleaned everything up. When Kayla came back to a bare bedroom, there was screaming and shouting. “How can I live without my clothes?” Mrs. Perkins asked Kayla to earn her clothes back by doing housework.
Parenting experts, Jim Fay, also recommends that parents first ask children in a nice way to clean up and agree on a reasonable time limit.
| A．Humor can help, too. |
| B．It’s easy said than done. |
| C．These days, she keeps her room clean. |
| D．The mess can badly affect the whole household. |
| E．Every family has different ways of dealing with it. |
| F．Children often be have better if you treat them with respect. |
| G．Others offer rewards for cleaning, or punish them when they don’t. |
One traditional belief about television is that it reduces a child’s ability to think and to understand the world. While watching TV, children do not merely absorb words and images (影像). Instead, they learn both explicit and hidden meanings from what they see. Actually, children learn early the psychology of characters in TV shows. Furthermore, as many teachers agree, children understand far more when parents watch TV with them, explaining new words and ideas. Yet, most parents use an educational program as a chance to park their kids in front of the set and do something in another room.
Another argument against television is that it replaces reading as a form of entertainment. But according to Anderson, the amount of time spent watching television is not related to reading ability. TV doesn’t take the place of reading for most children; it takes the place of similar sorts of recreation, such as listening to the radio and playing sports. Things like parents’ educational background have a stronger influence on a child’s reading. “A child’s reading ability is best predicted by how much a parent reads.” Anderson says.
Traditional wisdom also has it that heavy television-watching lowers IQ (智商) scores and affects school performance. But here, too, Anderson notes that no studies have proved it. In fact, research suggests that it’s the other way around. “If you’re smart young, you’ll watch less TV when you’re older,” Anderson says. Yet, people of lower IQ tend to be lifelong television viewers.
For years researchers have attempted to show that television is dangerous to children. However, by showing that television promotes none of the dangerous effects as conventionally believed, Anderson suggests that television cannot be condemned without considering other influences.
1. By watching TV, children learn _________.
| A．images through words |
| B．more than explicit meanings |
| C．more about images than words |
| D．little about people’s psychology |
| A．on his own |
| B．with other kids |
| C．with his parents |
| D．with his teachers |
| A．Radio-listening |
| B．Television-watching |
| C．Parents’ reading list |
| D．Parents’ educational background |
| A．the more a child watches TV, the smarter he is |
| B．the younger a child is, the more he watches TV |
| C．the smarter a child is, the less likely he gets addicted to TV |
| D．the less a child watches TV, the better he performs at school |
| A．To advise on the educational use of TV. |
| B．To describe TV’s harmful effects on children. |
| C．To explain traditional views on TV influences. |
| D．To present Anderson’s unconventional ideas. |
【推荐1】Seattle’s Pike Place Market stretches for four city blocks. It includes a collection of old buildings, bunches of stalls and street musicians and afters that draw both locals and visitors. The themed market wakes up each day at 5:00 a.m. Among the first to arrive are flower vendors and fish mongers (小贩) like Jason Scott.
My stand is known for its tradition of throwing fish before wrapping it up for a customer. I came back out of high school and I’ve been here ever since. I’m 46 now.
Many Pike Place Market stores are family-run and have been around for generations. Russian-speaking immigrants opened Piroshky bakery 25 years ago. Not a lot of people understand what Piroshky is. People think sometimes it’s a last name, so we do have to educate people a lot. If you go to Russia and you go to a market like this, you could hear the latest scream out - Piroshky, Piroshky and that’s why we call it Piroshky.
Next to Piroshky is a Chinese bakery called Mee Sum pastry. It’s owned by the third generation of the Fong family. They call their signature pastry, the best and biggest combos (套餐) in towns. Like Chinese hamburger, you can put chicken or puppy kibble or crispy even vegetable in it.
But in this sprawling (无序扩展的) market, one of the most unusual places isn’t a food or craft stall. It’s the gum wall where people can stick their tiny chewed up clump on a roll. Apparently, they don’t give it much thought, trying to be original. This gum wall started about 20 years ago when the theater asked people not to bring gum inside because they didn’t want it under the seats, so people would put gum up on the outside.
Market officials initially tried to clear the sticky stuff off the wall, but new gum always reappeared so they finally gave up. The gum wall quickly became a tourist attraction. And just like that, the gum wall turned into an attraction, highlighting a more unusual side of Seattle that locals and visitors love.
1. What do we know about Seattle’s Pike Place Market?| A．It’s small and delicate. | B．It’s tidy and in order. |
| C．It’s special and attractive. | D．It’s modern and new. |
| A．A Russian-speaking immigrant. | B．A kind of baked pies. |
| C．People’s last name. | D．A Chinese bakery. |
| A．It should be cleared away. |
| B．It shows the special side of Seattle. |
| C．It is made on purpose. |
| D．It resulted from the market officials’ wrong decision. |
【推荐2】In the United States，it is important to be on time，or punctual，for an appointment，a class，a meeting，etc.However，this may not be true in all countries.An American professor discovered the difference while teaching a class in a Brazilian（巴西的） university.The two-hour class was scheduled to begin at 10A.M.and end at 12.On the first day，when the professor arrived on time，no one was in the classroom.Many students came after 10：30A.M.Two students came after 11A.M.Although all the students greeted the professor as they arrived，few apologized（道歉）for their lateness.Were these students being rude？He decided to study the students' behavior.
The professor talked to American and Brazilian students about lateness in both an informal and a formal situation：at a lunch with a friend and in a university class，respectively.He gave them an example and asked them how they would react，If they had a lunch appointment with a friend，the average American student defined lateness as 19minutes after the agreed time.On the other hand，the average Brazilian student felt the friend was late after 33minutes.
In an American university，students are expected to arrive at the appointed hour.In contrast，in Brazil，neither the teacher nor the students always arrive at the appointed hour.Classes not only begin at the scheduled time in the United States，but also end at the scheduled time.In the Brazilian class，only a few students left the class at 12：00； many remained past 12：30 to discuss the class and ask more questions.While arriving late may not be very important in Brazil，neither is staying late.
1. What is the main idea of this passage？ ______| A．It is important to be on time for class in the United States. |
| B．The importance of being on time differs among cultures. |
| C．People learn the importance of time only from their own culture. |
| D．Students being late for class should explain the reason to their teacher. |
| A．1eaving soon after class | B．coming early |
| C．arriving a few minutes late | D．being on time |
| A．He felt puzzled at the students' being late. |
| B．He felt angry at the students' rudeness. |
| C．He wanted to make the students come on time later. |
| D．He wanted to collect data for one of his studies. |
| A．American students will become impatient if their friend is five minutes late |
| B．neither Brazilian nor American students like being late in social gatherings |
| C．being late in one culture may not be considered so rude in another culture |
| D．Brazilian students will not come thirty-three minutes after the agreed time |
【推荐3】Many everyday American expressions are based on colors.
Red is a hot color. Americans may say they are red hot about something unfair. They are red hot when they are very angry about something. The small hot-tasting peppers found in many Mexican foods are called red hot for their color and their fiery(辣的) taste. Fast loud music is popular with many people. They may say the music is red hot, especially the kind called Dixieland jazz.
Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say they are in the pink when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. It comes from the fact that many babies are born with nice pink skin that shows that they are in good health.
The color black is often used in expressions. People describe a day on which everything goes wrong as a black day. A blacklist(黑名单) is illegal now. But at one time, some businesses refused to employ people who were on a blacklist for belonging to unpopular organizations.
The color green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural color for humans. A person who has a sick feeling in his stomach may say he feels a little green. A passenger on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves may look very green.
Sometimes a person may be upset because he does not have something as nice as a friend has. That person may say he is green with envy. Some people are green with envy because a friend has more dollars or green-backs. Dollars are called greenbacks because green is the color of the black side of the paper money.
1. Americans use “red hot” to describe the following EXCEPT_______.| A．something unfair |
| B．small hot-tasting peppers |
| C．the person who is very angry |
| D．popular music like Dixieland jazz |
| A．the expression has a very long history |
| B．the color pink makes people feel happy |
| C．people think the color pink is gentler than red |
| D．healthy babies are born with nice pink skin |
| A．enjoys himself/herself in boating | B．is hit by a high wave |
| C．has a stomach ache | D．likes trees and grass |
| A．Being sent a beautiful gift | B．Passing a very difficult test. |
| C．Being refused during and important interview | D．Being invited to an exciting party |
