1 . International Women's Day is March 8. The first celebration was held in 1911, and the event was recognized by the United Nations starting in 1975.
It's a great time to think about the origin of the word "woman". Some people think the word “woman" is a compound(混合)of the words“womb”and“man". Not so. Rather,it's a compound of "wife" and "man", a combination that can be traced back to Old English. You see, when Old English was first being spoken in the 5th century AD, there were two distinct words for men and women: "wer" meant "adult male",and "wif” meant “adult female". There was a third word,“man", which simply meant "person"or "human being”. These words could be combined:“wer" plus“man"(in the form of "waepman")meant "adult male person" and“wif” plus"man”("wilman") meant “adult female person”.
Those middle forms,“wimnan"and "wommon"with the two M's in the middle, remind me of Noah Webster's efforts to simplify English spelling by suggesting changing the spelling "woman” to“wimmen" to have the spelling better match the pronunciation. He put that in his 1806 Compendious Dictionary o f the English Language, but it didn't become popular.
And the Old English word for "adult male" evolved into a simplified form. The compound word "weapman" melted into the simple word we use today: "man".
Maybe the lesson to take from all this is that the role of women in society has always been complex. Whatever the case, the word "woman" today was originally a compound of the Old English words for"woman” and “human being”.
1. Where can you find the first source of the word "woman"?| A．In paragraph 1. | B．In paragraph 2. | C．In paragraph 3. | D．In paragraph 4. |
| A．To link the spelling to the pronunciation. |
| B．To keep up with the times more closely. |
| C．To satisfy the readers’ requests |
| D．To make it easy to pronounce. |
| A．By the 1600s. | B．In the 5th century AD, |
| C．In 1809. | D．By the Middle English period |
| A．To tell us the origin of Women's Day. |
| B．To tell us the history of the word "woman". |
| C．To stress the roles women are playing |
| D．To teach us the development of a language |
2 . In school, we' re taught word repetition is bad and that we shouldn't use the same word over and over again in the same piece. It gives the impression that we have a severely limited vocabulary.
Later on, however, we' re sometimes told that it's better to use the same word repeatedly. With dialogue, some novel-writing professors recommend using "said" with each comment instead of replacing it with synonyms（同义词）（whispered, responded, etc.）. Word repetition is also an emotional appeal strategy for speeches and sales, because people remember and respond to things they hear multiple times.
So which way is right?
The answer is, "It depends.” If you're writing for school, it's not a very good idea to use the same word constantly. If you're writing dialogue that you want to keep moving at a fast pace, using mostly “said” can help do that because "he said” and "she said” more or less fade into the background. They don't take much time or attention for the readers, so they can skip over and focus on the dialogue. However, this isn't a hard-and-fast rule. You might rely on “said” for one scene and mix in a bunch of synonyms for another.
Repeating a word can also provide emphasis, and it's really good for sales. Think about commercials and how they re-use specific words to make sure that those words stick in your memories. The trick to this method, however, is that you have to make sure other words aren't repeating the same way. Otherwise, the repetition loses its power.
In the end, it comes down to personal taste and the effect you' re trying to achieve. As Shakespeare said, "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." You may need to repeat the same word every time. You may need to mix it up with synonyms. You may need to do both at the same time for different ideas. And the decision may change completely by what you're trying to do.
1. Why should you avoid repetition in your school essay?| A．It would get readers angry if you did that. |
| B．Teachers thinks less of your vocabulary. |
| C．Essays are graded by your vocabulary. |
| D．Readers hate to read simple words over again. |
| A．Limiting the writing speed. |
| B．Speeding up the reading process. |
| C．Putting more emphases on backgrounds. |
| D．Highlighting the writer's vocabulary. |
| A．Word repetition should be kept from being used in any way. |
| B．The more word repetitions, the better effect they have. |
| C．Repeat specific words but do the rest in another way. |
| D．Make sure that each word is repeated in the same way. |
| A．What Effect Can Repetition Have on Novels? |
| B．Why does Poetry Use Repetitions? |
| C．Is Word Repetition Good or Bad? |
| D．How Is Word Repetition Used in Ads? |
3 . Polish Olympian Maria has generously auctioned（拍卖）off her Tokyo Games silver medal to raise funds for a baby's lifesaving operation.
When Maria heard about 8-month-old Miloszek's battle for survival, she felt it a must to do something to help. The baby had a serious and rare heart disease. His condition was badly worsening, and he was in need of immediate surgery. His parents sought funds to cover the cost of his transportation and medical care for the complicated surgery at Stanford University Medical Center in the United States.
As a cancer survivor, Maria knows what it is like to fight the disease. She overcame bone cancer and a shoulder injury to make her comeback and compete at this summer's Tokyo Olympic Games. Her hard work paid off, earning her first medal.
Athletes make enormous sacrifices to have an opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games, and winning an Olympic medal is every athlete's dream. Maria treasured what the medal represents. However, she decided her medal was more valuable at auction if the raised funds could help save a child's life.
Maria stated in her social media auction announcement that Miloszek's fundraising already had a good head start. It was at the halfway point of reaching its goal of $390,000. That was thanks to the family of a recently deceased young boy who generously donated the funds originally meant for their son. Maria hoped her Olympic silver medal would take the fundraising across the finish line.
Zabka, a popular Polish supermarket chain, won Maria's silver medal auction with a bid of $125,000. Zabka's owners gracefully declined to accept the silver medal and returned it to Maria. They stated they were grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a good cause.
1. Which of the following best describes Miloszek's disease?| A．Common. | B．Urgent. |
| C．Incurable. | D．Infectious. |
| A．She was a gold medalist in Tokyo Olympics. |
| B．She survived lung cancer in the past. |
| C．She didn't think much about her medal. |
| D．She had great sympathy for Miloszek. |
| A．Dead. | B．Missing. |
| C．Generous. | D．Friendly. |
| A．Maria. | B．Miloszek. |
| C．Zabka's owners. | D．A young boy. |
