It is one of the most annoying words in the English language and it seems there is no escaping it. The word “huh?” is in worldwide use, a study found.
Researchers discovered that languages spoken in countries from Ghana and Laos to Iceland and Italy all include “huh?”, or something that sounds very like it. They said that while the study may sound silly, the word is an absolutely necessary part of speech. Without it and similar words, it would be impossible to show that we haven’t heard or understood what had been said and this would lead to constant misunderstandings.
But while other words used in the same context, such as “sorry” or “what”, vary widely across languages, “huh?” remains unchanged.
The Dutch researchers carefully studied ten languages from around the world, including Siwu, which is spoken in Ghana, and an Australian Aboriginal language, as well as Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Mandarin Chinese.
They analysed tapes of recorded conversations for words that sounded like “huh?” and were used to request that whatever had just been said be repeated. All contained a version of “huh?”. The word was also found in another 21 languages. While there were subtle differences in each country, all sounded basically the same.
This is surprising because normally unrelated languages will use very different words to describe the same thing. For instance, the Japanese for “dog” is “inu”, while the French is “chien”. It is thought that languages around the world have developed their own version of “huh?” because the sound is quick and simple to form, as well as being easily understood.
The researchers, said that it might seem unimportant to carry out scientific research into a word like “huh?” but in fact this little word is an essential tool in human communication. They also have an answer for those who claim that “huh?” isn’t a word. They say that it qualifies because of the small differences in its pronunciation in different languages. It also can be considered a word because it’s something we learn to say, rather than a grunt or cry that we are born knowing how to make. According to researchers, the word “huh?” is very important in speech because of ________.
| A．its stable meaning in language development |
| B．its important function in communication |
| C．its simple and easy sound and spelling |
| D．its popularity in every language |
What is the natural response if you hear the lady you’re speaking to say “huh?”?
| A．You should ask her to repeat what she says before that. |
| B．You should apologize to her for speaking in a low voice. |
| C．You should invite her to share her different views politely. |
| D．You should try to repeat what you’ve just said in a clearer way. |
The main method used in the research of “huh?” was ________.
| A．interviewing language experts in universities |
| B．talking with people from ten different countries |
| C．analyzing the recorded conversations in different languages |
| D．comparing different words with the same meaning in different languages |
According to researchers, “huh?” should be considered a word rather than a sound because ________.
| A．it is listed in most dictionaries |
| B．it is something humans learn to say |
| C．there is a clear and consistent spelling of the word |
| D．there is a big difference in the way it pronounces in different languages |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To inform readers about research on the worldwide used word “huh?”. |
| B．To argue that “huh?” is the most important word in every language. |
| C．To entertain readers by relating similar idioms in different languages. |
| D．To instruct readers of the differences of “huh?” in different languages. |
Celebrity TV presenter Ju Ping has been a host on China Central Television for 30 years, but her recent experience hosting a charity event was one of the most special moments in her career.
On April 2, World Autism (自闭症) Day, Ju partnered with Xia Junqi, a 17-year-old autistic teenager, to host a charity gala at theBeijingNational Aquatics Center, otherwise known as the Water Cube.
The event was organized by One Foundation, which aims to increase public awareness of autistic people and their needs.
Autism is a neural disorder that can impair sufferers’ communication skills and social interactions. Sufferers have restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. It affects about 1.6 million people in China, with medical studies suggesting autism may affect one in every 166 children.
Autism has no cure. For many years it went largely undiagnosed in China but early intervention (干预，治疗) and continuous education may help toteach the autistic self-help skills and lessen their problematic behavior.
The gala(晚会) featured autistic children singing, dancing and performing, and was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Cai Chunzhu, a celebrity playwright, recalled feeling heartbroken when his son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. He says his family struggled to accept the reality but finally made peace with the diagnoses in the past four years. He says the boy lives in his own world and is trained in an intervention facility. Sun Zhongkai, executive director of the Beijing Stars and Rain Institute for Autism, one of the earliest intervention facilities for autistic children in China, shared with audience his deep sorrow for parents who often broke down with desperation when he told them there was no cure for their autistic children.
Over the years, Chinese society has become more supportive of autistic people and their families, but there are still challenges in terms of getting autistic people employed and looking after them when their parents pass away.
Actor Zhou Xun also called on society to show greater understanding and support toward autistic children and their families.The underlined word “impair” in Paragraph 4 most probably mean?
| A．cause | B．improve | C．increase | D．damage |
Which of the following statements about Autism is FALSE?
| A．It is a kind of illness that cannot be cured. |
| B．Nothing can be done about it. |
| C．People in China were not well aware of it in the past. |
| D．A lot of children suffer from it in China. |
What can we know from Paragraph 7?
| A．It is quite difficult for parents to accept that their children have autism. |
| B．Training in an intervention facility can stop children with autism living in their own world. |
| C．There is only one intervention facility for autistic children in China. |
| D．Doctors often break down when they tell parents their children have autism. |
Where does this text probably come from?
| A．A TV interview. | B．A medicine magazine. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A book review. |
阅读理解。
Two days ago I was woken up at 1 am. My roommate stood at the door (she was returning from a club) along with a huge middle-aged man with long hair. “Please let him in,” she told me, “He has been locked out of his apartment.” She had seen him, cold and shivering (it had snowed the previous night) and immediately asked him to sleep at our place. He was a law student in his fifties who had been doing his homework at the Laundromat (自助洗衣店) when he found he had left his keys in his house.
I have never had a strange man sleep in my house before. My roommate and I are both less than 5 feet and we have been asked not to speak to strangers since we were kids. Not to mention that we’re in a new city that we have lived in for less than a month. He accepted our kindness with hesitation and as soon as dawn broke he left.
The next day he came to our house, saying he owed us big time for not being frozen out in the cold. He left us a beautiful card saying—“Thank you so much. Your actions are so sincere.”
Later he cooked us a wonderful simple “thank you” dinner over which he told us about his life (a coach, a guide, a law student). He told us how he was completely touched by our concern for a total stranger. I learnt a lot that evening. As he talked about how once he brought a homeless man in to eat Christmas dinner with his family, I was deeply touched.
My roommate taught me a huge lesson: Let go of your fear; always leave the door of compassion (同情) open and you can never go wrong. From the first paragraph we can infer that _______.
| A．the writer came back from a club earlier |
| B．the writer’s roommate was kind-hearted |
| C．the writer’s roommate often came back late |
| D．the man wanted to find a job at the Laundromat |
When the writer knew the man would stay in their house for the night, at first _______.
| A．she felt nervous | B．she was angry |
| C．she felt excited | D．she was disappointed |
The next day the man went back to the writer’s house to ______.
| A．tell them he was OK | B．give them nice cards |
| C．show his thanks to them | D．show he was really lucky |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The writer’s roommate worked in a club. |
| B．The man had helped others before. |
| C．The man was a complete failure in his life. |
| D．The two women have lived in this city since they were young. |
Winter Travel Adventures
“Let it snow, let it snow!” You have found your home for all adventures, icy, snowy and white! Discover breathtaking sights while cross-country skiing and snow mobiling, or uncover new lands for skiing, and find the hottest spots to snowboard. Informative links below will get you on your way to a winter wonderland journey.
Seniors Head South for Winter
A feature article on the annual（一年一次的）migration of Winter Texans and Snow Birds heading to warmer places for the winter. Resources for Texas, Florida, Southern U.S and international destinations are included.
Skiing and Snowboarding adventures
You either love it or hate it, strapping（用带子系）a pair of boards to your feet and thrusting yourself down a snow-covered mountain at a speed of 60 miles per hour. If downhill running is your adventure game, connect with the best resources for adventures, vacations, ski trips and destinations.
Cross-country Skiing Adventures
All ages can find pleasure and exercise on a good pair of cross-country skis. Discover the winter back-country on your next adventure. Connect with adventure opportunities, outfitters, equipment sources, destinations and more.
Snowmobile Adventures
Take to the snow-covered backcountry and discover white adventures where only snowmobiles can take you. You can find information from a resource center about adventure tours, group tours, clubs, equipment, destinations, best trails and more.
Snowshoe Adventures
Foot power proves to be the ultimate （首要）dependable transportation, and that applies to winter trekking (艰苦跋涉)through the backcountry. A good pair of snowshoes can get you to places when nothing else can.The purpose of this text is to _______.
| A．introduce some of the famous scenic spots |
| B．introduce the hottest spots to snowboard |
| C．provide readers with several choices of traveling. |
| D．provide information of different travel agencies |
The underlined words “hottest spots” (in paragraph 1) mean _______.
| A．places with the highest temperature |
| B．the most popular places for travelers. |
| C．places with hot springs |
| D．the most popular winter games |
If you wish to spend your winter abroad, which group would you join?
| A．Seniors Head South For Winter |
| B．Snowmobile Adventures |
| C．Skiing and Snowboarding Adventures |
| D．Cross-Country Skiing Adventures |
Proverbs (谚语) are quite common in spoken English. We don’t normally put them in a composition or a letter. Sometimes it is helpful if you know what common proverbs mean. Here are a few examples.
1) “Once bitten, twice shy.” If a dog bites me, I shall be twice as careful in future when I see it. This proverb is also used to apply to many things and not only to dogs. If you have been cheated at a shop, you will not go the same shop again.
2) “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” If I am a hunter, trying to catch birds, it is better to catch one than to see two birds in a bush but not able to catch them. Thus this means that what you have already got is better than the chance of being able to get something bigger in future.
3) “Too many cooks spoil the broth (soup)”. When too many people do something, they get in each other’s way and do a bad job.
4) “To pour oil on troubled waters” is to try to calm things down. Oil is lighter than water. If a ship is in trouble at sea, another ship may come to help it. The second ship can send small boats to rescue people. However, it may first pour oil on the sea to make the sea less rough.
5) “Don’t be a dog in a manger(槽)”means“ Don’t be selfish.” In a stable (马房), the manger is the place where the horse’s food is put. Sometimes a dog will sleep in the manger and bark when a horse comes to get its food. The dog does not want to eat the lay in the manger but it will not let the horse eat it.
6) “He is sitting on the fence” means that somebody will not say whether he is in favor of a plan or against it. He is sitting on a fence between two opposing sides, perhaps waiting to see which side will win.
7) “He who pays the piper calls the tune.” A piper is a musician. The man who employs or pays a musician can say what tunes the man will play. Thus this means that if a man provides the money for a plan, he can say how it will be carried out.
8) “You can’t get blood out of a stone” means that you cannot get something from a person who has not got any of the things you want. e. g. you cannot get a million dollars from a poor man.Mr. and Mrs. Smith had a quarrel. Their friend, Mr. Brown, wanted to talk to them. When he came back, he told his wife that he had been trying to help the Smiths by ______.
| A．getting blood out of a stone |
| B．pouring oil on troubled waters |
| C．sitting on the fence |
| D．being a dog in a manger |
Mr. Wang paid for a new school. Some people didn’t like the design of the school but they didn’t argue with Mr. Wang because ______.
| A．once bitten, twice shy |
| B．he was sitting on the fence |
| C．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| D．he who pays the piper calls the tune |
Mrs. Lin wanted to buy a new dress. Her husband suggested that she buy it from a shop near their home. Mrs. Lin disagreed because she had been cheated by that shop. So she said :“I won’t go there again because ______.”
| A．I am sitting on the fence |
| B．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| C．too many cooks spoil the broth |
| D．once bitten, twice shy |
Mr. Brown had quite a good job in Hong Kong but he thought that if he went to Singapore, he might get a much better job with more money and a larger house. His wife didn’t want him to leave his job in Hong Kong and she reminded him that ______.
| A．too many cooks spoil the broth |
| B．a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush |
| C．he who pays the piper calls the tune |
| D．you can not get blood out of a stone |
UFO stands for "unidentified flying object". Many people reported having seen UFOs in the sky. A lot of countries tried to research them and in 1952 they got the name of UFO.
There were several reports published in the 19th century which were related to UFOs. Denison Daily News in its report of 25th January, 1878 wrote that a farmer, Martin, saw a flying object in the sky and it was just like a plate. This was the first time that the word plate had been related to the UFOs.
The first reports on UFOs came during World War II. In 1947 pilot Kenneth Arnold said while he was flying near the Mount Rainer he saw a very bright object in the sky. He said that it was like a plate too. The information given by Kenneth got lots of attention from the media and people.
Several research organizations gave their reports on the UFOs. They showed direct or indirect physical evidence of the UFOs, and sometimes UFOs’ appearance was found on the radar (雷达) screen. Many people tried to take video tapes or photos of the UFOs as testimony. Most UFOs are in saucer shape while many UFOs are like a cigarette or a half ball.
Many films and TV shows are made about UFOs. There are two famous movies which are created on the theme of UFOs and aliens, War of the World and Star Wars. UFOs have created a new field in science which is known as Ufology (飞碟学).Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The UFOs Martin and Kenneth Arnold saw were in different shapes. |
| B．People named the flying object UFO in the 19th century. |
| C．Martin was the first person that described the flying object as a plate. |
| D．Kenneth Arnold was given little attention for his discovering UFO. |
What does the underlined word " testimony " in the fourth paragraph mean?
| A．Evidence. | B．Research. | C．Mystery. | D．Appearance. |
From the passage, we can infer ______.
| A．the danger of UFOs attracted the media’s attention |
| B．most UFOs’ shapes are changeable |
| C．Ufology was developed a hundred years ago |
| D．the radar helps people get UFO evidence |
The next paragraph following the passage might talk about ________.
| A．famous movies on the UFOs |
| B．different UFOs’shapes |
| C．the effect of UFOs on humans |
| D．the new science —Ufology |