The first creature
Humans are explorers since the dawn of civilization. We
Our first steps into space began. Laika
That hasn’t stopped people from signing up and blasting off. NASA’s Apollo program had ended
2 . 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 |
3 . Recently I’ve had two good roles on television. But when I was just getting started in theater work 17 years ago, I never thought I’d make it. Back then I was recovering from surgery and had been off work for six months. Even worse, as a single mother with three youngsters, I had no place to live in. I felt hopeless.
One Sunday morning I saw actor Robert Young on the television talking about his faith: Believe yourself! If we confidently take that first step, well take the next, until we reach our goal.
The first step was scary. After I went working part-time, I looked for an apartment. The ones I saw were either too expensive, or I couldn’t raise my children in them. I knew a house, not an apartment, was more suitable for me. However, after seeing several houses, my confidence was shaken. I found two seemed right, but when I was about to make an offer, someone else had ordered.
I remembered a saying, “When one door closes, a better one opens.” I wouldn’t just sit staring at the closed one but got up and struggled on. In a real estate (房地产) agent, I found a small house with proper price. To buy it, I had to borrow $ 3,000 for a down payment and get a mortgage (按揭). Common sense argued that a mortgage for a single mother working part-time was impossible. But I had enough self-confidence without following common sense.
After getting the house, my new self-confidence grew. Later , when I began filling small parts in television productions, that self-confidence showed. I'd always played the role as the director wanted. Now I find myself freer to interpret (演绎) it.
Self-confidence has made it through life. Trouble can be scary at first, but each time I take that step, I believe I will win the next.
1. How did the author feel when entering television industry at first?| A．Hopeful. | B．Embarrassed. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Aggressive. |
| A．To show the value of self-confidence. |
| B．To share her different life experiences. |
| C．To introduce her toughest part of life. |
| D．To tell us her ways to get over difficulty. |
| A．Her sense of confidence. | B．The difficulty in her life. |
| C．The director’s good direction. | D．Her success in her first attempt. |
| A．Appear on the Stage | B．Struggle with Life |
| C．Stick to Your Plan | D．Believe in Yourself |
