Do you know what really troubles me? For some reason, words with silent letters have always bothered me. For example, consider these words: know, design, island, school, wrist, naughty, and salmon. All of these words have at least one letter that is not typically pronounced, and these words are just a very small part of words with silent letters in them.
Some words are even worse, consider this word: colonel. Not only are some letters not pronounced, but letters that are not even there are pronounced.
Even foreign languages, especially French, are guilty of this needless complexity and confusion. I know there must be some main historical reasons why the words are spelled and pronounced the way they are, but that does not mean bad traditions must continue to survive. Especially if they are no longer logical.
Unfortunately, there is very little that anyone can do for it, because there’s no group of people who can change or have the right to change the English language for everyone. However, the only thing we can do is make changes in the way we talk and write in hopes that it catches on. For example, I pronounce the letter “l” in salmon on purpose to make people annoyed and to sound more different or complicated. I even pronounce colonel the correct or French way.
I can only hope these two minor changes to the English language make sense to you, and you will help to keep up these minor changes forever in your everyday life.We can learn from the passage ________.
| A．colonel is pronounced |
| B．salmon is pronounced |
| C．all the words with silent letters come from French |
| D．linguists will solve the problem of dumb letters |
Which of the following is the main reason for silent letters?
| A．French language. | B．Historical reasons. |
| C．Some linguists | D．Bad traditions. |
The underlined phrase “catches on” probably means “________”.
| A．becomes popular | B．gets across |
| C．follows the fashion | D．doesn’t fall behind |
Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
| A．Troubles in everyday life | B．Traps in English words |
| C．Words with silent letters | D．Necessary changes of languages |
I was in a strange city I didn’t know at all, and what’s more, I could not speak a word of the language. On my second day I got on the first bus that passed, rode on it for several stops, then got off and walked on. The first two hours passed pleasantly enough, then I decided to turn back to my hotel for lunch. After walking about for some time, I decided I had better ask the way. The trouble was that the only word I knew of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly. I stopped to ask a newspaper-seller. He handed me a paper. I shook my head and repeated the name of the street and he put the paper into my hands. I had to give him some money and went on my way. The next person, I asked was a policeman. He listened to me carefully, nodded and gently took me by the arm. There was a strange look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again. I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed.
About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me. I had come all the way into the countryside. The only thing left for me to do was find the nearest railway station.The writer preferred to walk back to his hotel because ________.
| A．he had no money to buy a ticket |
| B．he wanted to lose himself in the city |
| C．he tried to know the city in this way |
| D．it was late and there were no buses passing by |
The newspaper-seller______.
| A．didn’t know where the hotel was |
| B．didn’t understand what the writer said |
| C．could understand what the writer said |
| D．didn’t want to take the money from the writer |
From the story we know that the policeman______.
| A．was kind but didn’t understand the writer |
| B．told the writer where to take a train |
| C．knew what the writer really meant |
| D．was cold-hearted and didn’t help the writer |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．The writer got close to the hotel where he stayed. |
| B．The writer got to the hotel with the policeman’s help. |
| C．The writer found he was much farther away from the hotel. |
| D．The writer found the hotel in the direction the policeman pointed. |
In your opinion, what was the writer’s real trouble?
| A．He didn’t know the city at all. |
| B．He couldn’t speak the language. |
| C．He went too far in the wrong bus. |
| D．He followed the policeman’s direction. |
People have strange ideas about food. For example, tomato is a kind of very delicious vegetable. It is one of useful plants that can be prepared in many ways. It has rich nutrition(营养) and vitamin in it. But in the 18th century, Americans never ate tomatoes. They grew them in their gardens because tomato plants are so pretty. But they thought the vegetable was poisonous(有毒的). They called tomatoes “poison apples”.
President Thomas Jefferson, however, knew that tomatoes were good to eat. He was a learned man. He had been to Paris, where he learned to love the taste of tomatoes. He grew many kinds of tomatoes in his garden. The President taught his cook a way for a cream of tomato soup. This beautiful pink soup was served at the President party. The guests thought the soup tasted really good. They never thought their president would serve his honored guests poison apples. Jefferson never spoke to his honored guests about the fact.Tomato is a kind of ___________.
| A．poisonous fruit | B．poisonous vegetable |
| C．tasty fruit | D．tasty vegetable |
After you read the passage, which of the following do you think is true?
| A．Americans never ate tomatoes after they began to plant them. |
| B．Americans didn’t eat tomatoes before 19th century. |
| C．Even now Americans don’t eat tomatoes. |
| D．In the 18th century Americans ate a lot of tomatoes. |
Jefferson learned that tomatoes were good to eat ____.
| A．while he was in Paris | B．when he was a little boy |
| C．because his parents told him so | D．from books |
From the passage we know all the honored guests invited by Jefferson were____.
| A．people from other countries | B．from France |
| C．people of his own country | D．men only |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．None of the guests knew the soup that was served at the President’s party was made of tomatoes. |
| B．All of the guests thought the soup which was prepared by the President’s cook was nice. |
| C．President Thomas Jefferson knew that tomatoes were good to eat and not poisonous at all. |
| D．All of the guests didn’t know that their president would serve his honored guests poison apples. |
The pen is more powerful than the sword. There have been many writers who use their pens to write things that were wrong. Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of them.
She was born in the U. S. A. in 1811. One of her books not only made her famous but has been described as one that excited the world, and was helpful in causing a civil war and freeing the enslaved race. The civil war was the American Civil War of 1861, in which the Northern States fought the Southern States and finally won.
This book that shook the world was called Uncle Tom's Cabin. There was a time when every English-speaking man, woman, and child had read this novel that did so much to stop slavery. Not many people read it today, but it is still very interesting, if only to show how a warm-hearted writer can arouse people's sympathies. The author herself had neither been to the Southern States nor seen a slave. The Southern Americans were very angry at the book, which they said did not at all represent the true state of affairs, but the Northern Americans were widely excited over it, and were so inspired by it that they were ready to go to war to set the slaves free.Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe became famous for .
| A．one of her books |
| B．she was a very heartedly person |
| C．she was a kind wife |
| D．she worked for the war |
How old was Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe when her world famous book was published?
| A．About sixty years old. |
| B．Over fifty years old. |
| C．In her forties. |
| D．Around twenty years old. |
What do we learn about Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe from the passage?
| A．Before the civil war she had been a slave. |
| B．Before the civil war she had lived in the north of America. |
| C．She had a good school education. |
| D．She was better at writing than swinging a sword. |
Why could Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe's book cause a civil war in America? Because .
| A．she disclosed the terrible wrongs done to the slaves in the Southern States |
| B．she wrote so well that the Americans loved her very much |
| C．the Americans were too excited when they reads the book |
| D．the Southern Americans hated the book, while the Northern Americans liked it |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．No wor can be won without such a book as Uncle Tom's Cabin. |
| B．We must understand the importance of literature and art. |
| C．We needn't use weapons to fight things that are wrong. |
| D．A writer is more helpful in war than a soldier. |
I moved to Chicago ten years ago. As I was new to the area, I had friends and seldom went out to parties. But a month later, I was invited to a party and there I an elderly couple.
The wife and I for a long time. She told me how she was about her husband who was a heart operation. At that time I was working as a researcher in the same where the husband would be going for his operation, I told her to take down my phone number and me to let me know when he was there.
She phoned a few weeks later as and told me that her husband was admitted to the hospital and
waiting. I told her that I would go and check on him every day while I was at . I thought that if it was my dad, I would do the same, so I decided to give them some .
Weeks turned into months and it just became my to see them and keep track of how things were going before, during and after the heart operation. Sometimes I'd bring a for him to read, or some food that we would share . As time went by, it seemed like I became part of the . Even after the husband returned from the hospital, we still often each other on holidays.
Now, ten years later, I my own family. Since our parents don’t close by, this couple has become my son’s “local” grandparents. My wife and I often feel truly to have this couple as our “local” parents! Sometimes family comes out of the most unexpected place.
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Two Chinese living in South Africa were killed in a robbery (抢劫) on February 5, bringing the total number of Chinese killed in the country to four in less than a month.
Chen Jianqing, 35, from Southeast China's Fujian Province, who ran a shop with her husband in a small town 45 kilometers away from South African capital Johannesburg, was shot dead.
"One of her business partners died later in the hospital," the Chinese consulate (领事馆) officials in Johannesburg said yesterday. "Local police are trying to find more information about the case. And we have told the victims' (遇难者的) relatives and are helping them come to Johannesburg," Consul Wu Gang told China Daily. Chen's husband was injured during the robbery but did not suffer seriously, said Wu.
The robbery happened at about 5:45 pm local time and the armed robbers ran away after taking more than 50,000 South African rand (US $8,200) and some jewelry, Xinhua News Agency reported.
The killing happened just three days after Chen Jingmin, a 23-year-old man from Qingdao, Shandong Province, was shot dead north outside Johannesburg by armed robbers. On January 10, a Hong Kong businessman was attacked and robbed at his home in Johannesburg and died the next day in the hospital. All these happened just in less than a month.
According to records, there were more than 40 robberies attacking Chinese in South Africa last year, in which eight were killed. More than 100,000 Chinese are doing various kinds of businesses in South Africa, according to a Chinese official in the country. An increasing number of them are becoming targets (目标) of robbers after buying big houses or luxury cars, the official said.. The passage is probably ______.
| A．a business story | B．a scientific article |
| C．a newspaper report | D．an official document |
. Who were killed on February 5 in a small town near Johannesburg?
| A．Chen Jianqing and her husband. |
| B．Chen Jianqing and one of her partners. |
| C．Chen Jingmin and a Hong Kong businessman. |
| D．Chen Jingmin and one of his relatives. |
. How many Chinese were killed in South Africa since January ?
| A．2 | B．4. |
| C．5. | D．8. |
. _______are more likely to be robbed in South Africa.
| A．Those Chinese who depend too much on local police |
| B．Those Chinese who live near the capital of South Africa |
| C．Those Chinese who open shops selling Chinese goods |
| D．Those Chinese who leave others the impression of being rich |