1 . Six weeks before his birthday, Giuseppe Paternò achieved the dream of a lifetime: He got a university degree.
Mr. Paternò's graduation has inspired news coverage around the world, partly because of his age. But he has mainly drawn attention because his life story speaks of commitment, a theme that has encouraged as millions of schoolchildren in Italy and elsewhere faces extraordinary uncertainty during the coronavirus pandemic.
Born in Palermo in 1923, the first of seven children in a “very poor family,” Mr. Paternò began working soon after finishing elementary school. “The family was large, there was only one paycheck, we were under fascism, and times were tough,” he said.
Eventually, he ended up at a publishing house where an enlightened boss persuaded his father to send him back to school for a three-year vocational degree. Mr. Paternò then worked for an insurance agency while he took private classes to become a telegraph operator. He used skills from the operator job when he was drafted into the navy in World War II. The job also opened doors to the State Railways Company, where he worked for more than four decades.
It was only after he retired, in the mid-1980s, that he returned to his books, taking theology courses through the Archdiocese of Palermo after a chance meeting with a philosophy professor who urged him to follow his love.
Mr. Paterno's son, Ninni Paternò, said that the family had not expected all the attention. “It's unbelievable!” the vounger Paternò said of his father. “He achieved his goal, but he didn't mean to be famous in newspapers around the world.”
University officials are hoping that Mr. Paternò will continue his studies on waster's course. But he isn't so sure. “I have to admit that in this moment, I don't know whether I would do it with the same spirit,” he said on Wednesday. Still, Mr. Paternò said he would probably continue anyway.
1. What's the main reason for the world to report Mr. Paternò's graduation?| A．His experience shows the spirit of commitment. |
| B．Mr. Paternò achieved his dream at an old age. |
| C．His graduation ceremony was during the coronavirus pandemic. |
| D．His achievement is extraordinary. |
| A．Working for an insurance company. |
| B．Severing in the navy in World War II. |
| C．A telegraph operator. |
| D．The job in the State Railway Company. |
| A．The family had not agreed Mr. Paternò's decision. |
| B．Mr. Paternò didn't want to gain the world's attention. |
| C．Mr. Paternò suffered a lot to achieve his goal. |
| D．Mr. Paternò's achievement is not worth mentioning. |
| A．It's never too late to achieve a dream. | B．No pains, no gains. |
| C．Young at heart. | D．Practice makes perfect. |
2 . 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. |
