C(2010 ‘江苏)
Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer. But there is one question that has millions of correct answers. That question is ‘What’s your name?’ Everyone gives a different answer. but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?
People’s first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used Some parents choose the name of a well-known person A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means ‘ bright’; Beatrice means ‘0ne who gives happiness’; Donald means ‘world ruler’ ;Leonard means 6 as brave as a lion’.
The earliest last names, or Surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near a brook(小溪) ; someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are : Carter – a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter-a person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with the gray hair probably became John Tallman John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or-son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish People added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell. Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?
A.Places where people lived. |
B.People’s characters. |
C.Talents that people possessed. |
D.People’s occupations. |
According to the passage, the ancestors of the Potter family most probably___________.
A.owned or drove a cart |
B.made things with metals |
C.made kitchen tools or containers |
D.built houses and furniture |
Suppose an English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-born son to become a world leader, the baby might be named___________.
A.Beatrice Smith |
B.Leonard Carter |
C.George Longstreet |
D.Donald Greenwood |
The underlined word ‘descendants’ in the last paragraph means a person’s___________.
A.later generations |
B.friends and relatives |
C.colleagues and partners |
D.later sponsors |
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The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down” . You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”
I noticed every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I looked down on the computer and asked her, “What do all you people do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s good, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said. “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’re still flying, aren’t they?”
“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington, ” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know, ” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT’ knows. ‘It can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.
56. Where do you often hear these frightening words “Our computer is down”?
A. At the airport. B. At the gate. C. On business. D. In the ticket office.
57. What could the girl in the ticket office do without asking the computer?
A. She could do nothing.
B. She could sell a ticket.
C. She could write out a ticket.
D. She could answer the passengers’ questions.
58. What does the underlined word “down” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. White. B. Broken. C. Black. D. Dark.
59. We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.
A. a modern computer won’t be down
B. computers can take the place of human
C. there will be great changes in computers
D. sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people
60. The best title for the article is _______.
A. Asking the Computer B. When the Computer Is Down
C. The Computer of the Airport D. The Most Frightening Words
Scientists say they have discovered a promising treatment for sleeping sickness, a killer disease that infects(感染) about 60,000 people in Africa a year.
British and Canadian experts say drugs could attack the parasite(寄生虫) causing the illness needs to survive. They say the drug could be ready for human medical test in about 18 months.
The disease, spread by the bite of a fly, is caused by a parasite attacking the central nervous system. It has similar symptoms(症状) to malaria(疟疾), making it difficult to diagnose. Left untreated, it moves to the brain, resulting in mental confusion and final death
The "breakthrough" came at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where scientists were offered money to research diseases ignored by major drugs companies.
Professor Paul Wyatt, director of the programme, said: "This is one of the most significant findings made in recent years in terms of drug discovery and development for ignored diseases."
He said the research, published in the journal Nature, represented "significant progress" in the development of a full blown drug against the disease.
The World Health Organization said there are between 50,000 and 70,000 cases of the disease a year, with a further 60 million people at risk of infection.
The research in Dundee was backed by partners at the University of York in England and the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto, Canada. The two drugs currently available to treat sleeping sickness both have problems. One is with side effects that kill one in 20 patients and the other is costly, only partially effective and requires long-time hospital treatment, the scientists said. The word backedin the last paragraph probably means_____.
A.conducted | B.supported | C.believed | D.managed |
What the World Health Organization said suggested that______.
A.about 60000 people died of the disease each year |
B.about 60000 people were cured of the disease each year |
C.600 million people are likely to get infected |
D.the disease is spreading fast in Africa |
We can read this passage______.
A.in the journal Nature |
B.in a newspaper of the University of Dundee |
C.in a book about flies |
D.in a newspaper about medicine |
We can learn from the passage that______ .
A.big drug companies play an important role in the research of the new drug |
B.people who get infected with the disease are mentally disturbed |
C.among 200 people infected with the disease, 5 may die because of the old drug |
D. Professor Paul Wyatt may be a professor at the University of York |
(BBC)The "father of the personal computer" who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68. Dr Henry Edward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that led to the home computer age.
Gates and Allen contacted Dr Roberts after seeing the machine on the front cover of a magazine and offered to write software for it. The program was known as Altair-Basic, the foundation of Microsoft's business. "Ed was willing to take a chance on us - two young guys interested in computers , and we have always been thankful to him," the Microsoft founders said in a statement.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak told technology website CNET that Dr Roberts had taken " a critically important step that led to everything we have today".
Dr Roberts was the founder of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS), originally set up to sell electronics parts to model rocket hobbyists. The company went on to sell electronic calculator parts, but was soon overshadowed by bigger firms.
In the mid-1970's, with the firm struggling with debt, Dr Roberts began to develop a computer kit(配套零件) for hobbyists. The result was the Altair 8800. The $395 kit (around £1,000 today) was featured on the cover of Popular Electronics in 1975, resulting in a flood of orders.
Amongst those interested in the machine were Paul Allen and Bill Gates. The pair contacted Dr Roberts, offering to write software that would help people program the machine. The pair finally moved to Albuquerque - the home of MITS - where they founded Micro-Soft, to develop their software.
Dr Roberts sold his company in 1977. He died in hospital on 1 April after a long period of pneumonia.(肺炎)Why did Dr Roberts probably decide to sell his company?
A.Because he was in heavy debt in the mid-1980's . |
B.Because he wanted to take a chance on Gates and Allen. |
C.Because he ![]() |
D.Because he had difficulty competing with big companies. |
What do we know about MITS?
A.It was set up by Steve Wozniak. |
B.It sold electronics parts to big firms. |
C.It is located in Albuquerque. |
D.It is a technology website. |
We can learn that Popular Electronics is likely to be ____.
A.a newspaper | B.a magazine | C.a Website | D.an organization |
What is the best title of this passage?
A.The story of the Altair 8800 |
B.The founder of MITS |
C.Father of the personal computer died |
D.The story of Dr Roberts |
Funny English Errors and Insights
Laugh... And Learn!
Welcome tothe website for Funny English Errors and Insights (2010), a new book of unconscious humour published by the National Library of Australia.
Funny English Errors and Insights will be launched at the National Library in Canberra on 29th, October 2010.
In the meantime, explore this website for other collections of real-life English language mistakes,including funny answers to exam questions, media misprints, and silly signs.
See Funny English Errors: The B List for more than a hundred examples of funny English gaffes(失言). For more funny English errors, read author Troy Simpson's blog. For still more examples,, join this website to download a free PDF version of English As She Is Taught, which lists our top 250 funny English language mistakes from that classic howlers book.
Join this website FREE, and you can also:
oEnter member-only competitions
oContribute your comments
oDownload free e-Cards
oBe the first to know about our much-anticipated book, Funny English Errors and Insights (2010) ...
Features
Follows in the tradition of the runaway best-seller Howlers books of the 1920s and 1930s
oIncludes quotes(引文) that have never been published before in this way
oIncludes more than 30 carefully selected funny photos
oTopics include English, science, history, geography, religion, mathematics, and more
oA perfect gift for students, teachers, parents, grandparents, public speakers, doctors, lawyers, journalists, clergy and religious, and anyone with a sense of humour! The word launched in the second paragraph is closest to the meaning:
A.sent up for the first time. | B.written for the first time. |
C.for sale for the first time. | D.printed for the first time. |
On the website ,you can do the following things except.
A.read some funny news |
B.know something about this book previously |
C.find a lot of examples about English errors |
D.express your opinions freely |
About this book, you know that .
A.it only includesEnglish, science, history |
B.it is quite different from Howlers books |
C.all the quotes in it are familiar with us | |
D.it is intended for people all walks of life |
The text is aimed at introducing .
A.a popular website | B.some selected funny photos |
C.a new book | D.some funny English errors |