There are some stories behind English words.
You've spent a lot of time studying how to use English in a proper way. But have you ever wondered why English speakers say some of the things they say? For example, why do they say "an easy task" is "a piece of cake"? Why do the two letters "OK" means "all right"?
Many English words and phrases have stories behind them. Sometimes these stories can help us look back into old western history. Let's take a look at a few of the original * common English words and phrases: OK
"OK" was an American who lived in the 19th century. His name was "Old Kinderhook". In one year he was trying to take the place of the leader of his town. His supporters went around the town shouting " OK \ OK \" The supporters thought their future leader was " all right". The expression caught on, and now if something is "all right" , people like to say "OK|"
Boss*
Is your boss nice to you? If not, just be glad you weren't living in the old times. Back to that time, bosses could do anything bad to their men and could even beat* them! That explains why the word "boss" comes from an old German word meaning "to beat".
A piece of cake
A famous American writer named Ogden Nash lived in the 1930s. Many readers enjoyed his poems and wrote them down in their notebooks. In one of his poems, Nash wrote, " Her picture's in the papers now, and life's a piece of cake. " His readers found these words interesting and quickly wrote them down. They thought that if one picture in a newspaper could make you famous, wouldn't life be easy?
For nearly 70 years, "a piece of cake" has meant any task or activity that is easy.
Some of English words can tell us stories about_________.
| A．how people learned English |
| B．how English speakers create the words |
| C．how people spoke English |
| D．how people taught others to speak English |
The word "boss" in old German means "_________".
| A．to work | B．to help |
| C．to beat | D．to kill |
"OK" comes from "_________".
| A．Old King | B．Old Kindman |
| C．Old Kinderhook | D．Old Mcdonald |
In this passage "a piece of cake" means "_________".
| A．an easy task or activity |
| B．a difficult task or activity |
| C．a simple newspaper to read |
| D．a famous picture in a newspaper |
Mrs. Black lives in a small village. Her husband is dead. Her son, Jack, lived with her. He worked in a shop in the village, but then he found a job in town named Green Sea. He went to live there. Mrs. Black was very angry. She got on a train and went to see her son. Then she said to him, "Jack, why do you never telephone me?"
Jack laughed, "But, mother, you haven’t got a telephone. "No." She answered, "I haven’t, but you have got one. "
（ ）1. The old Black ______.
A. is dead B. lives with his wife
C. went to a small village D. worked in a shop
（ ）2. Jack lived with his mother ______he worked in the village.
A. before B. when C. after D. so
（ ）3. Green Sea is _________.
A. a big city B. a small village C. a town D. a man’s name
（ ）4. Jack didn’t phone his mother because ______.
A. he had no phone B. he was very busy
C. his mother had no phone D. he went home every day
（ ）5. Jack’s mother was very angry because ______.
A. Jack didn’t want to ring her up
B. Jack had a telephone but she hadn’t
C. she didn’t know how to make a telephone
D. she didn’t know she couldn’t be called
Hello!I’m Cindy’s Chinese teacher Sun Tong.I’m 22 years old. I’m Chinese .My Chinese is very good. Oh my English is not good .Cindy is an English girl.She is 12 years old.Her English is very good. Her Chinese name is Sun Xiaotong.
根据短文内容判断下列句子正（T）误（F）Sun Tong’s English name is Cindy. ( )
Cindy is an English teacher. ( )
Cindy’s English is very good. ( )
Sun Tong is not Chinese. ( )
Sun Tong is Sun Xiaotong’s Chinese teacher. ( )
Dave Smith is 12. He has a sister .Her name is Jenny .She is 8.
Dave has a dictionary .It is blue .The dictionary is in his black backpack .He has a computer game and he likes it .Jenny has a watch .It is red .She likes it very much. She has a good pencil case ,too .It’s white . Her pencil ,ruler ,eraser and pen are in the pencil case. Her pencil case is in her yellow backpack.What’s Jenny’s family name?
| A．White | B．Black | C．Smith | D．Brown |
What color is Dave’s dictionary?
| A．It’s blue. | B．It’s black. | C．It’s red. | D．It’s white. |
_________ things are in Jenny’s pencil case.
| A．One | B．Two | C．Three | D．Four |
What color is Jenny’s backpack?
| A．It’s black | B．It’s red | C．It’s green | D．It’s yellow |
下面哪项陈述是正确的？
| A．Dave is 8 | B．Jenny has a computer game |
| C．Dave’s backpack is black | D．Jenny has a sister |
This is Jim’s room. It’s a nice room. Some pictures are on the wall (墙). There’s a desk and a chair in his room. There is a sofa and a bookcase, too. The desk is between (在……之间) the bed and the bookcase. His backpack and pencil case are on the desk. His pencils, pen and ruler are in the pencil case. His sofa is near the desk. His baseball is under the bed. There is ______ in Jim’s room.
A. a desk and a sofa
B. a desk and some chairs
C. a chair and some desksThe desk is between the _______ and the _______.
A. sofa; bookcase
B. bed; bookcase
C. bed; sofaJim’s pencil case is _______.
A. on the desk
B. under the desk
C. under the bed Jim’s _______ isn’t in his pencil case.
A. pencil B. pen C. eraser Jim’s _______ is under the bed.
A. pen B. baseball C. ruler
Lost and Found
Mary’s school ID card number is _________.
A. 2360731 B. 6956385 C. 2007712The backpack is ________.
A. white B. red C. black and white Mary’s phone number is __________.
A. 6956385 B. 2007712 C. 2360731Tony’s last name is ________.
A. Brown B. Green C. MikeCindy’s _______ is in the lost and found case.
A. school ID card B. backpack C. notebook
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