It"s not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used
题型：不详难度：来源：
It"s not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we"re doing.
I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, and my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!
Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax, which is a shortening of facsimile originally, an exact copy of a book or document. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we"d fax it immediately. So, nouns turn into verbs in two easy stages. Then along came email, and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we do without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.
Email reminds me, of course， of my computer and its software, which has produced another couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I"ll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don"t bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb is derived from an adjective not a noun． I wasn’t really sure whether people said this，but someone told me recently that they had favorited a site I was looking for and so they could easily give me its address.
In the late 1980s I noticed that lots of my friends had acquired pagers, and kept saying things like “I’ll page you as soon as I know what time we’re meeting”. They couldn"t say it to me, though; 1 refused to have one． So my children bought me a mobile phone, now known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message （either spoken or written）for them on their phone．Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ll start using it myself!
小题1:“I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means .| A．it was a firm arrangement | B．it was an uncertain arrangement | | C．the arrangement should be written as a diary | D．he prefers a pencil to a pen |
小题2:A website address can be easily found if it has been＿____.| A．emailed | B．messaged | C．favorited | D．texted |
小题3:Which of the following has not been used as a verb, yet?| A．message | B．page | C．email | D．mobile |
小题4:The best title for this passage is____．| A．New Verbs from Old Nouns | B．The Development of the English language | | C．New Technology and New words | D．Technology and Language. |
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答案
小题1:B
小题2:C
小题3:D
小题4:A |
解析
小题1:从第二段中作者对他朋友说的话“ You can ink it in.”的解释可“ I’ll pencil it in my diary”与其意义相反。所以B项正确。
小题2: 从第四段最后一句可知答案。
小题3:从最后一段可知page、message、email都用作动词，唯有mobile 这一词还没有内人们用作动词。
小题4:文章第一段用问句提出论点，即人们发现用许多名词用作动词这一新的语言现象。 |
举一反三
High school dropouts（辍学者）earn an average of $ 9,000 less per year than graduates. Now a new study dispels a common belief why they quit. It’s much more basic than flunking out（不及格）.
Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can’t cut it. They are lazy，and perhaps not too bright．So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left.
“The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school.” John Bridgeland, the executive researcher said. About 1 million teens leave school each year. Only about half of African-American and Hispanic（美籍西班牙的）student will receive a diploma（证书），and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision. So， if failing grades don’t explain why these kids quit, what does? Again，John Bridgeland："The most dependable finding was that they were bored.” “They found classes uninteresting; they weren’t inspired or motivated. They didn’t see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives, or to their career aspirations.”
The study found that most teens who do drop out wait until they turn sixteen, which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit. In the US，only one state，New Mexico，has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate. Only four states: California, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, plus the District of Columbia, require school attendance until age 18, no exceptions, another researcher，says raising the compulsory（义务的）attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school．
“As these dropouts look back，they realize they’ve made a mistake. And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out and it through to the end, is probably helpful measure.”
New Hampshire may be the next state to raise its school attendance age to 18. But critics say that forcing the students unwilling to continue their studies to stay in school misses the point－the need for reform. It"s been called for to reinvent high school education to make it more challenging and relevant, and to ensure that kids who do stick it out receive a diploma that actually means something.
小题1:Most high school students drop out of" school because＿＿．| A．they have failing grades | B．they take no interest in classes | | C．they are discriminated against | D．they are lazy and not intelligent |
小题2:Acceding to the passage，which state has a law requiring school attendance until they graduate?| A．New Hampshire | B．Utah | C．New Mexico | D．The District of Columbia |
小题3:The underlined words “stick it out” probably means“＿＿”．| A．complete schooling | B．solve the problem | | C．love having classes | D．believe in themselves |
小题4:From the passage，we can infer the following EXCEPT that＿．| A．the grades of most dropouts at school were acceptable | | B．about 500, 000 high school dropouts are black and Spanish | | C．classes don"t appeal to dropouts | | D．on average dropouts cannot get good jobs |
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Antarctica and Environment
Antarctica has actually become a kind of space station – a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world’s environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere, Antarctica makes possible scientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.
Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor, where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States, Switzerland, and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet – a concern they believe the world at large should share.
The Transantarctic Mountain, some of them more than 14,000 feet high, divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the “east” of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. “West” of the mountain, the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet, but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared, the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.
While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments, others focus on the mysterious “dry valley” of Antarctica, valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land, these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9,000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea. Now the glaciers are gone, perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10,000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges, rippled fields of sand dunes, clusters of boulders sculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds, and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.
Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys, some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.
小题1:What is the best title for this passage?
A Antarctica and environmental Problems.
B Antarctica: Earth’s Early-Warning station.
C Antarctica: a Unique Observation Post.
D Antarctica: a Mysterious Place.
小题2:What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?
A The western part of the continent would be disappeared.
B The western part of the continent would be reduced.
C The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.
D The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.
小题3:Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?
A Vicious wind blasts the snow away. B It rarely snows.
C Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind. D Sand dunes.
小题4:Which of the following is true?
A The “Dry Valleys” have nothing left inside.
B The “Dry Valleys” never held glaciers.
C The “Dry Valleys” may carry a message of hope for the verdant.
D The “Dry Valleys” are useless to scientists. |
A computer virus is a program or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. All computer viruses are manmade. Here are some virus prevention tips.
Do not open any files attached to an e-mail from an unknown, suspicious or untrustworthy source.
Do not open any files attached to an e-mail unless you know what it is, even if it appears to come from a dear friend or someone you know. Some viruses can replicate（复制） themselves and spread through e-mail. Better be safe that sorry and confirm that they really sent it .
Do not open any files attached to an e-mail if the subject line is questionable or unexpected. If the need to do so is there always save the file to your hard drive before doing so.
Delete chain e-mails and junk e-mail. Do not forward（转寄） or reply to any of them. These types of e-mail are considered spam（垃圾邮件）, which contains lots of annoying advertisements and useless information.
Do not download any files from strangers.
Be careful when downloading files from the Internet. Ensure that the source is a legitimate（合法的）and reputable one. Verify（证实）that an anti-virus program checks the files on the download site. If you are uncertain, don’t download the file at all or download the file to a floppy（软盘）and test it with your own anti-virus software.
Update your anti-virus software regularly. Over 500 viruses are discovered each month, so you’ll want to be protected. These updates should be at least the products virus signature files. You may also need to update the product’s scanning engine as well.
Back up（备份） your files on a regular basis. If a virus destroys your files, at least you can replace them with your backup copy. You should store your backup copy in a separate location from your work files, one that is preferably not on your computer.
小题1:This passage mainly tells us .| A．What a computer virus is | | B．how to use e-mail safely | | C．how to use computers safely | | D．how to prevent computer viruses |
小题2:Which of the following statements about computer virus is TRUE?| A．A computer virus is a kind of worm | | B．Not all computer viruses are manmade | | C．Computer viruses run according to our wishes | | D．A computer virus is a program or piece of code. |
小题3: When we use e-mail, we should .| A．open all the files we receive | | B．open any file even if we don’t know what it is | | C．not open any files if the subject line is questionable | | D．forward or reply to junk e-mail. |
小题4:Which of the following statements is NOT true?| A．We’d better not down load any files from strangers. | | B．We’d better download files from a legitimate and reputable source. | | C．We should update our anti-virus software regularly. | | D．We should store our backup copy in the same location as our work files. |
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Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami(海啸), adding weight to ideas they possess a “sixth sense” for disasters, experts said on Thursday.
Sri Lanka wildlife officials have said the giant waves that killed over 24,000 people along the Indian Ocean island’s coast seemingly missed wild beasts, with no dead animals found.
“No elephants are dead, not even a dead hare or rabbit. I think animals can sense disaster. They have a sixth sense. They know when things are happening,” H.D. Ratnayake, deputy director of Sri Lanka’s Wildlife Department, said on Wednesday.
The waves washed floodwaters up to 3 km (2 miles) inland at Yala National Park in the southeast, Sri Lanka’s biggest wildlife reserve and home to hundreds of wild elephants. “There has been a lot of evidence about dogs barking or birds migrating before volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. But it has not been proven,” said Matthew van Lierop, an animal behaviour specialist at Johannesburg Zoo.
“There have been no specific studies because you can’t really test it in a lab or field setting,” he said.
Other authorities agreed with this conclusion.
“Wildlife seem to be able to pick up certain phenomenon, especially birds. There are many reports of birds detecting coming disasters,” said Clive Walker, who has written several books on African wildlife.
Animals certainly rely on the known senses such as smell or hearing to avoid danger such as predators(食肉动物).
The idea of an animal “sixth sense” is a lasting one that the evidence on Sri Lanka’s damaged coast is likely to add to.
小题1:This passage is mainly about________.| A．the damage that was caused in the Indian Ocean tsunami | | B．why animals can save them from natural disasters | | C．how to protect the wildlife when disaster happens | | D．the different opinions about animals’ natural power |
小题2:Which of the following is true according to the text?| A．It has been proved that animals have a “sixth sense”. | | B．Research has been made on the special movements of animals before disasters. | | C．It’s generally considered that animals can sense the coming of disasters. | | D．Animals have depended on the known senses to escape the Indian Ocean tsunami. |
小题3:What does the term “sixth sense” in the text means?| A．It is the natural ability of animals that can save them from danger. | | B．It is the animal’s imagination in the brain. | | C．It is some hidden power to say in advance that something will happen. | | D．It is a kind of sense that is the same as smell or hearing. |
小题4:Which section does the text most probably appear in a newspaper?| A．News Report. | B．Discovery. | C．Science Fiction. | D．Culture. |
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The United States government wants to know what the public thinks about its findings on the safety of cloned animals.
The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats are safe to eat. An F.D.A. official called them "as safe to eat as the food we eat every day." And when those clones reproduce sexually（有性繁殖）, the agency says, their offspring（后代） are safe to eat as well. But research on cloned sheep is limited. So the F.D.A. proposes that sheep clones not be used for human food.
The United States this year could become the first country to approve the sale of foods from cloned animals. First, however, the public will have ninety days to comment on three proposed documents. On December 28th the F.D.A. released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents.
The agency says it must receive comments by April second. The F.D.A. seemed ready to act several years ago, but an advisory committee called for more research.
For now, the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they not sell foods from cloned animals.
Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce.
The F.D.A. says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread good qualities.
Public opinion studies show most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows the public knows little about cloning.
Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a so-called donor animals is grown into an embryo（胚胎）in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus（子宫）of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born.
小题1:From the passage we know that .| A．foods from cloned animals are popular in America | | B．cloned adult animals are safe to eat except sheep. | | C．cloned animals will be easy to produce | | D．most foods from cloning is expected to take place of other foods |
小题2:The main purpose of the text is to .| A．tell a interesting story | B．give some advice on foods | | C．give a report | D．compare different opinions |
小题3:Who believe that foods from cloning are safe to eat?
A. Most Americans B. An advisory committee
C. Critics D. The F.D.A.
小题4:It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .| A．cloning has much in common with genetic | | B．not every cell taken from a donor animal can grow into a genetic copy | | C．the donor animal should be a female one | | D．cloned animals grow faster than normal ones |
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