Mouse potatoes joined couch potatoes (who spend much time watching TV on the couch), google officially became a verb and drama queens (extremely emotional persons) finally found the attention when they crossed over from popular culture to mainstream English language.
The mouse potato, the himbo (attractive, empty-headed man) and drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America’s best-selling dictionary, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary《韦氏大词典》. The Internet search engine Google also found its way into the dictionary for the first time as a verb, meaning to find information quickly on the worldwide web.
New words and phrases from the fields of science, technology, pop culture and industry are chosen each year by Merriam-Webster’s team of editors after months of looking through books, magazines and even food labels. “They are not tracking spoken language. They are looking for evidence that words have been used in the written English language,” said Arthur Bicknell, senior editor of Merriam-Webster.
Other words first coming into the dictionary this year were soul patch (a small growth of beard under a man’s lower lip), unibrow (two eyebrows joining together) and supersize － the fast food industry phrase for extra large meals.
The technology world contributed ringtones (changeable incoming cellphone call signals) and spyware (software installed in a computer to track a user’s activities) while biodiesel (生物柴油) and avian influenza(禽流感) came from the world of science.
America’s first dictionary － Noah Webster’s A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language － was published 200 years ago and also introduced some fresh words that have now become familiar. Those “new” words in 1806 included slang, surf, psychology, naturally and Americanize. The mouse potato refers to ____________.
| A．a mouse that lives by potatoes |
| B．a person who spends much time on the computer |
| C．a mouse that is shown on the screen of the computer |
| D．a person who likes to eat mice and potatoes |
Which group of words and phrases is NOT the fresh words for the dictionary of this year?
| A．mouse potatoes, google, supersize， drama queen. |
| B．himbo, soul patch, unibrow, supersize. |
| C．ringtones, spyware, biodiesel, avian influenza. |
| D．couch potatoes, surf, psychology, Americanize. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?
| A．New words and phrases were introduced into the dictionary have close relationship with the time. |
| B．New words and phrases chosen by the editors of the dictionary have been used in written English somewhere. |
| C．Some words that are now familiar to us used to be fresh words collected in the dictionary. |
| D．The Merriam-webster Collegiate Dictionary becomes the best-seller because 100 new words are added to it. |
Johnny the Explorer
Johnny was three when he ran away from home for the first time. Somebody left the garden gate open. Johnny wandered out, crossed some fields and, two hours later, arrived in the next village. He was just able to give his name and address.
By the time he was seven, Johnny used to disappear from home two to three times a year. Sometimes he covered quite long distances on foot. Sometimes he got on a bus or even a train, and simply sat there until someone asked for his ticket. Generally the police brought him home. “Why do you do it?” they used to ask. “I just like seeing places,” Johnny told them.
Johnny continued to “see places” although everyone tried to stop him. His parents used to watch him closely, and so did his teachers; but sooner or later Johnny managed to slip away. As he grew older, his favorite trick was to hide on a long distance truck. Sometimes he travelled hundreds of miles before anyone discovered him.
It is hardly surprising that eventually Johnny managed to board a plane. He was twelve at the time. It was a cargo plane and, a few hours later, Johnny found himself in Cairo. How did he get on board? No one knows! According to Johnny himself, it was easy: he just went into the airport, walked along some passages and got on board the nearest plane.
In spite of all this, Johnny did well at school. He enjoyed mathematics and languages and, perhaps not surprisingly, he was especially good at geography. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” his teachers asked him. “An explorer!” he answered. “But it’s difficult to become an explorer in this modern age,” they tried to tell him. But it was no use: Johnny knew what he wanted!
Just before he left school, Johnny saw a notice in a daily paper. A long journey was about to go to Brazil to travel up the Amazon River. There were jobs for three young people “willing to work hard and with a sense of adventure”. Johnny applied, and two months later, he was on his way to Brazil.At what age did Johnny board a plane for the first time?
| A．Three | B．Seven | C．Twelve | D．Not mentioned |
Johnny frequently left home because ______.
| A．he preferred to stay alone |
| B．he enjoyed seeing new places |
| C．he couldn’t do well at school |
| D．he didn’t get along well with his parents |
People around Johnny ______.
| A．tried to stop him from slipping away |
| B．kept following him to get him back |
| C．booked tickets for him if necessary |
| D．were clear about how he travelled abroad |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．Johnny worked for a daily paper |
| B．Johnny lacked a sense of adventure |
| C．Johnny went exploring along the Amazon River |
| D．Johnny went to Brazil two months after he finished school |
There is a lot of talk these days about how kids should be interested in science. Here’s an area of science for everyone, and these cool new books might inspire you to discover your inner scientist.
Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled by Catherine Thimmesh, 58 pages, ages 9-12
Seeing a picture or a model of a dinosaur, do you wonder how anybody knows what they look like? After all, nobody has seen a living dinosaur. This book explains how scientists and artists work together to re-create dinosaurs. As scientific discoveries have been made, the models have changed. Scientific tests may one day expose what a dinosaur’s coloring was, but now artists have to use their imagination to determine how these huge creatures looked.
Beyond the Solar System by Mary Kay Carson, 128 pages, ages 10-13
This book takes readers back to the beginnings of space exploration—thousands of years ago, when people began star observation—and forward to today’s search for planets in distant parts of the Milky Way. Along with history lessons, readers get 21 activities, such as making a black hole and creating a model of Albert Einstein’s universe using a T-shirt. The activities are perfect for cold winter days.
Ultimate Bugopedia by Darlyne Murawski and Nancy Honovich, 272 pages, ages 7 and older
If you’re always on the lookout for butterflies, this book is for you. Hundreds of color photos of common and unusual insects fill this hardcover. There are fascinating stories related to the photos. For example, do you know an insect feeds on the tears of Asian cattle? There’s a question-and-answer section with an insect scientist and advice on how to help preserve endangered insects.
Journey Into the Invisible by Christine Schlitt, 80 pages, ages 9-12
If you use a magnifying（放大的）glass, you know a leaf looks quite different. This book explains what microscopes do and then shows what happens to things around the house when watched with this amazing scientific tool. The bacteria in your mouth, when magnified 20,000 times, look a bit like swimming pool noodles. Fascinating photos are paired with suggestions about how to learn about the world around you, just by looking a little closer. Kids interested in pre-historical animals might read ______.
| A．Ultimate Bugopedia |
| B．Beyond the Solar System |
| C．Journey Into the Invisible |
| D．Scaly Spotted Feathered Frilled |
Beyond the Solar System is mainly about ______.
| A．space exploration |
| B．the Milky Way |
| C．history lessons |
| D．Albert Einstein’s universe |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．butterflies are fond of the tears of Asian cattle |
| B．scientists have discovered the dinosaur’s coloring |
| C．microscopes can present you with an amazing world |
| D．man has explored the black hole for thousands of years |
The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
| A．compare features of different books |
| B．inspire people to become scientists |
| C．teach children some knowledge of science |
| D．recommend new science books to children |
Sharing Beauty
It was in October. I was aimlessly wandering down the street, heading into a most gloriously beautiful sunset. I had an urge to speak to someone on the street to share that beauty, but it seemed everyone was in a hurry.
I took the next-best action. Quickly I ducked into a department store and asked the lady behind the counter if she could come outside for just a minute. She looked at me as though I were from some other planet. She hesitated, and then seemingly against her better judgment, she moved toward the door.
When she got outside I said to her, “Just look at that sunset! Nobody out here was looking at it and I just had to share it with someone.”
For a few seconds we just looked. Then I said, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.” I thanked her for coming out to see it; she went back inside and I left. It felt good to share the beauty.
Four years later my situation changed greatly. I came to the end of a twenty-year marriage. I was alone and on my own for the first time in my life. I lived in a trailer park which, at the time, I considered a real come-down, and I had to do my wash in the community laundry room.
One day, while my clothes were going around, I picked up a magazine and read an article about a woman who had been in similar circumstances. She had come to the end of a marriage, moved to a strange community, and the only job she could find was one she disliked: clothing sales in a department store.
Then something that happened to her changed everything. She said a woman came into her department store and asked her to step outside to look at a sunset. The stranger had said, “God is in his heaven and all is right with the world,” and she had realized the truth in that statement. From that moment on, she turned her life around. The author asked the woman to go outside to ______.
| A．admire the sunset | B．cheer her up | C．offer some help | D．have a chat |
Four years later, the author ______.
| A．found her dream job |
| B．put an end to her marriage |
| C．worked in a laundry room |
| D．lived in the same community |
After reading the article in the magazine, the author was probably______.
| A．disappointed | B．puzzled | C．inspired | D．overjoyed |
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个恰当的单词。(答案填在答题纸上)
Becoming a fireman is a challenging and competitive job today. A fireman’s main duty is decided by the fighting and extinguishment(熄灭) of fire which definitely requires being a strong man, both mentally and physically.
The duty of a fireman includes protection of life and property of the public. They are the servicemen who are decisively selected by an organization to deal with situations like fire. Such type of jobs is one of those few jobs where service is provided for innocent people when they need help immediately. This may include rescuing people from a building at fire, providing them with medical facilities, extinguishing fire in a house or in a large commercial building. Serving people is the main purpose of these professionals（职业）. The satisfaction which a fireman gets from this type of job cannot be compared to any other profession in the world.
Such profession requires top-level commitment and professionalism from those who have chosen it as a career. Fireman should have the highest level of courage and patience to put their lives in danger for the sake of others. They undergo lessons of maintaining patience for long hours and go through complete preparation to become successful and well-organized professional firemen. There are certain tests that are recommended before becoming a fireman.
It’s not that easy to become a fireman nowadays. A fireman is supposed to deal with unexpected situations, and they should be skilled at communicating with others and be self-disciplined at the same time.
In order to be a good fireman, one must undergo（经历、接受） strict local fire department’s training program after passing all the tests. All the fire departments conclude a two-to-four-month course, including classroom training and practical training that cover firefighting techniques, fire avoidance, dangerous materials and urgent situation medical actions. Completing this training, trainees go through the department’s trial period of service that can last from three to six months, depending on the methods of selection.
Firemen usually work both indoors and outdoors. They have to be on duty at all times and mostly work in shifts of at least 8 hours. They are also provided with several benefits which include medical aid plan, pension fund, annual leave and many more.
Title: Fireman
| Definition |
The servicemen decisively selected by an organization to ( |
| ( |
● Helping innocent people ( ● Rescuing people from a building at-fire and providing them with medical facilities. ● ( |
| Requirements |
● Having top-level commitment and professionalism. ● Being courageous and ( ● Being strong both in body and ( ● Having good ( ● Being self-disciplined. |
| ( |
● Firefighting techniques, fire avoidance, dangerous materials and urgent situation medical actions. ● The department’s trial period of service which possibly ( |
| ( |
Medical aid plans, pension fund, annual leave and many more. |
Every school has an ugly girl. In my primary school, it was me.
From first grade through fourth, I had to wear heavy orthopedic(整形外科的)shoes because of my weak ankles. I sounded like overweight elephant wearing bricks whenever I took a single step.
“Hey, Bigfoot!”
“Geez, you’re going to start an earthquake!”
Then in sixth grade I had to start wear glasses. Mom asked for the least expensive ones and that made me look like a fool.
“Four eyes!”
“Couldn’t you cover up more of your faces? Why stop at the eyes?”
In Seventh, I started competing on the city swim team, thinking that if I got a killer body, nobody would notice my face. Wrong again. I loved being fast and winning ribbons now and then, but now I had red, wet eyes from the chlorine(氯) in the pool. I also did not develop a killer body.
I changed my strategy at Eighth grade, the last year of middle school. I offered my help to anyone who needs. I worked for other girls, so they could hang out with their friends. My new program began to work. People who would never have acknowledged my existence before were suddenly seeking me out.
I’d been feeling pretty good until one day I went to Christine’s house to help her fill envelopes. Going into each envelope was invitation to Christine’s birthday party; it was a big event at a fancy hotel. Complete with dinner. She asked me to help her address these envelopes. There was no envelope for me.
My heart was broken. I tried to escape from all the eyes. High school had to be better, right？ Yes and no. Now that I’m here, I know there are still lots of shallow people judging you on what you’re wearing or how cool your hair is , but there are also kids who talk to you because they liked your answers or just as you’re kind, honest, and a good friend.
I still do kind things because I like the feeling I get when I am helping people. I, with my friends, went to Children’s hospital, playing games and reading to the sick kids.
I still had wet red and not a smart look, but you cannot tell me I am not beautiful. Every time I visit hospital, five-year-old Terry grasps my hand, “Morri, you are so nice. I want to grow up to be just like you.”Why was Morri laughed at by her classmates when she was in primary school?
| A．She had weak ankles and eyesight. |
| B．Her glasses couldn’t cover up her face. |
| C．She couldn’t get along well with them. |
| D．She looked like an overweight elephant. |
Which of the following is the real reason for Morri competing on the city swim team?
| A．To win more ribbons. |
| B．To shift others’ attention from her face. |
| C．To develop a killer body. |
| D．To have red wet eyes. |
From what Morri experienced in the last year of middle school, we can learn that __________.
| A．her classmates thought highly of her |
| B．she was popular among her classmates |
| C．she was often cheated by her classmates |
| D．her classmates just made use of her |
The passage is intended to encourage people to __________.
| A．address as many as invitation envelopes as possible |
| B．take more sport activities including swimming |
| C．take others’ comments into careful consideration |
| D．take positive attitude towards disadvantages in life |
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