British potato farmers were taking to the streets to call for the expression "couch potato" to be taken away from the dictionary on the grounds that it harms the vegetable's image.
The British Potato Council wants the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to replace the expression with the term "couch slouch", with protests planned outside parliament in London and the offices of Oxford University Press. Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the Council, which represents some 4,000 growers and processors, said the group had complained in writing to the OED but had yet to receive a response.
"We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad to you," she said Monday.
"The potato has had its knocks in the past. Of course it is not the Oxford English Dictionary's fault but we want to use another term than couch potato because potatoes are naturally healthy."
The OED says "couch potato" originated as American slang, meaning "a person who spends leisure time passively or idly sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes."
John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the dictionary first included the term “couch potato” in 1993 and said "dictionaries just reflect the words that society uses."
Simpson said words were never taken out of the full-length dictionary, which includes some 650,000 words contained in 20 volumes. But little-used words can be removed from the smaller dictionaries to make way for newer ones.
“If society stops using words, then they are taken out of the smaller dictionaries”, he added. “The first known recorded use of the expression ‘couch potato’ was in a 1979 Log Angeles Times article,” Simpson said.
Nigel Evans, a member of parliament for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, has made a motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the nutritional value of the British potato.
1．British potato farmers were taking to the streets _____.
A．to advertise their production
B．to call for a higher price for t heir potatoes
C．to remove the expression “couch potato” from the dictionary
D．to let people know how important the potato is in people’s lives
2．The farmers think that_________.
A．potatoes have had a bad imagine
B．potatoes are good for people by nature
C．potatoes sometimes do harm to people
D．it's the dictionary's fault to use the expression "couch potato"
3．John Simpson thinks that _________.
A．the expression can be taken out of every kind of dictionary
B．dictionaries do not necessarily reflect the words the society uses
C．little used words can remain in the smaller dictionaries
D．it is impossible to take the word out of the dictionary
4．What is wrong with the expression "couch potato"?
A．It is connected with unfavorable meaning．
B．Potato should be used in the expression．
C．It is borrowed from American English．
D．It refers to a kind of person．
What is the relationship between violence and sports? Psychologists say that there are many reasons for violence at sports events. One is alcohol. Many fans drink a lot at games. When people drink, they are more likely to do abnormal things. Psychologist Dennis Brock says, “Quiet people become loud. Normally nonviolent people become destructive． ”
David Sampson, a sports sociologist, says, “These are often celebratory riots— a large number of very happy people mixed in with large amounts of alcohol. They don’t often seem dangerous in the beginning, but things get violent quickly． ”
Another reason for violence at sports events is the crowd. When individuals are in a large group of people, they can lose their sense of personal responsibility. Edward Hirt, a social Psychologist, says that research shows that people do things in crowds that they would never do alone. People in crowds feel anonymous — no one knows who they are. Crowds also make people feel powerful. They stop making personal decisions. They just follow the crowd. Social psychologists call this a “mob mentality．”
Dave Zarifis, head of public safety says, “Some people don’t even come to celebrate. They want to drink hard and make trouble. Someone does something stupid, and it grows from there. You get a mob mentality. People think it’s OK to do almost anything. They think, ‘There are so many of us and not enough of them． ’ ”
Social psychologist Dr. Sharon Kennedy says that there are some things officials can do to prevent violence. Making sure that an area is not overcrowded is very important. Officials should also think of games as “big parties．” Then they will prepare differently. Kennedy says that in Great Britain they are controlling the problem with cameras in all the stadiums. “When you know someone is watching, you are much less likely to behave badly． ”Which of the following best gives the main idea of the first two paragraphs?
| A．There’s a connection between violence and sports |
| B．One cause of violence at sports events is alcohol． |
| C．There are many reasons for violence at sports events． |
| D．David Sampson and Dennis Brock have the same opinion． |
Which of the following does NOT belong to a “mob mentality”?
| A．“I must drink some alcohol to stop myself feeling shy． ” |
| B．“ It’s safe to do what many people are doing． ” |
| C．“There are so many of us and not enough of them． ” |
| D．“ No one knows I’m doing this． ” |
How many experts are quoted by the writer of this passage?
| A．Two． | B．Four． | C．Three． | D．Five． |
The last paragraph is mainly about ______．
| A．how to turn games into big parties |
| B．why to install cameras in stadiums |
| C．how to prevent violence at sports events |
| D．how to avoid oneself behaving badly |
What lesson can we learn from this passage?
| A．Never drink any alcohol no matter where you are． |
| B．Whenever you are watching a game, you should keep quiet． |
| C．Never follow blindly no matter how many people are doing something． |
| D．Be careful when you are at a stadium because there are cameras there． |
I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”
At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket．
I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth… ?
She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room – if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”
Then she turned to me, kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control. ” With that, she left the room．
After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly． We can infer from the passage that ________．
| A．the secretary didn’t care about the writer |
| B．the writer was bad-tempered |
| C．the agent was not responsible for his own work |
| D．the wife of the writer was not sensible |
Why did the author shout at the telephone?
| A．He was angry with his agent． |
| B．He was mad at the telephone． |
| C．He was impatient with the secretary． |
| D．He was anxious about his wife． |
What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?
| A．She was speechless． |
| B．She threw the phone away． |
| C．She shouted at him． |
| D．She called the agent in person and scolded him． |
What made the author laugh?
| A．His changeable feelings． | B．His wife’s suggestion． |
| C．His own behavior． | D．His wife’s sweet kiss． |
What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?
| A．Smart words | B．Anxious feelings |
| C．Surprising looks | D．Unusual actions |
Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm.How surprised he must have been!
What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm．
When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners (吸尘器), collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before vacuum dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people．
Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down. ” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky． What could be the feelings of Bill Tapp the moment he saw the rain of fish?
| A．excited | B．scared | C．calm | D．amazed |
Fish-falls occur in Australia ________．
A. quite often B. on large farms C. only in winter D when the air is calmThe word “infinite” is closest in meaning to _________．
| A．easy | B．difficult | C．countless | D．dangerous |
What might be the reasons of the rain of fish?
| A．Vacuum cleaners | B．Strong wind |
| C．Wind and storm | D．It is still a puzzle |
What is this passage about?
| A．A sad story． | B．Australia's northern part． |
| C．A rain of fish． | D．The damage done by floods． |
根据短文内容，从短文后的
选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
________. He had more money than he could ever spend, and he was admired and looked up to by his community._____
_____ .He was not happy. All his life he had been pursuing happiness and struggling for happiness, but he had never been able to find it.
Then one day he heard about a hidden temple in Nepal that had a special room that contained the secret of happiness._______ .After many years searching and countless hardships he arrived there. He was tired and penniless, but he knew that none of that mattered now because he had found the temple. He asked a wise, smiling monk(和尚)if he could enter the special room. The monk agreed and showed him to the stairs leading to the room.____
__ .He stared into the room with sunlight streaming through the window and saw what he had come so far to find. There hanging on the wall was the secret of happiness. The man looked at his reflection in the mirror and laughed.
____ .Happiness is a choice that we can make. Don’t spend the rest of your life searching the world for happiness then. Just look at the mirror and laugh. Let the happiness flow from your heart, mind, and soul until it fills your life and the lives of all around you.
| A．He immediately sold all that he owned and set out to find this hidden temple. |
| B．The man found the secret of happiness at last. |
| C．But he knew that something was missing in his life. |
| D．He climbed them with legs shaking with expectation and slowly opened the door. |
E. There was once a very wealthy and successful man.
F. It is time we all realized that we were the secret of our own happiness.
G. It was difficult to find the temple in Nepal.
Pingyao, in the center of Shanxi Province, is a famous historic cultural city of China and a world cultural heritage site (世界文化遗址). It’s 90 kilometers south of Taiyuan on the Fen River.
People lived in Pingyao during the New Stone Age. Its long period as a country government seat has left Pingyao with lots of historic buildings and sites, with a 2,700-year history. Ninety-nine of them are under government protection, including Zhengguo Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Pingyao Ancient City.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, businessmen organized commercial (商业的) groups that did business nationwide. Shanxi Province had some of the most important ones and Pingyao was their center. In 1823, a store, known as Rishengchang(Sunrise Prosperity), traded in bank checks rather than in silver or gold coins. It was the beginning of modern Chinese banking. Branch banks were soon set up in major cities in China and other parts of Asia, leading to great development in Pingyao. Its Lacquer ware (漆器) became well known.
In Pingyao Ancient City are many traditional houses and commercial buildings, 3,797 of which are protected and more than 400 of which are
in good condition. Not only do the houses in Pingyao show Shanxi’s history and culture, but this large number is valuable for studying its history, customs, and ancient buildings and art. Most of these houses are still used as homes and shops of local people.
In 1997, Ancient Pingyao City was listed in World Heritage List as “ World Culture Heritage Site”. What does the
underlined word “them”(in the 2nd paragraph) refer to?
| A．Historic buildings and sites. | B．The three temples. |
| C．The country government seats. | D．The 2,700-year history. |
Which of the following about Pingyao is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Its location (位置). | B．Its tourism. |
| C．Its business. | D．Its history. |
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Pingyao was a leading center in __________.
| A．agriculture | B．raising cattle |
| C．commercial trade | D．making gold coins |
If you want to know about the history of banking in China, you’ll visit __________.
| A．Sunrise Prosperity | B．Zhengguo Temple |
| C．A lacquer ware store | D．A commercial house |
The main idea of the passage is that______________.
| A．Pingyao was the center of commerce |
| B．There are many ancient architecture in Pingyao |
| C．Pingyao was listed in World Heritage List |
| D．Pingyao is a historic cultural city |