Languages keeps evolving(进化、发展), and English is no exception．It is a language that embraces(欣然接受)new words that may be cool today but gone tomorrow．
There are, however, some words and phrases that have stood the test of time．OK, which has become the international standard for expressing agreement, is a good example．
But why is this rather odd(奇怪的)expression so popular and so useful when we could use any number of other words to say the same thing?
Writing in The Times, Allen Metcalf, author of OK：The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, writes：“What OK provided that the others did not was neutrality(中性), a way to express agreement without having to offer an opinion．”
For example, if someone asks you “Shall we go for a walk after lunch?” you can simply respond “OK”．There you go－no extra opinions．Just straight, plain old OK．
So just where did this rather curious expression come from? The origins of OK have been widely disputed(辩论，争论)．Some people have guessed that OK was the name of a person or a product．
Speakers of many different languages have had their say on this question, keen to claim the term as their own．
Writing an article for London’s Metro newspaper, Metcalf states：‘O and K are present in every language of the world, as expressions that can be abbreviated(缩写)OK．” For example：French－“O qu-oui”, “yes indeed”; German－“Ohne Korrektur”,“ without correction needed”; and in Latin or Greek, “Olla kalla”, “all good”．
But, does it sound a little too informal with this popular little expression?
Apparently not．
In a speech where he stated that his election(当选)would not be a radical(激进的)result to all problems, President Obama said：“…even though I am president…, AI-Qaida is still a threat(威胁)and that we cannot pretend somehow that because Barack Hussein Obama got elected as president, suddenly everything’s going to be OK,” he said．
So, there you go, straight from the president．It’s OK to say OK, and thanks to the expression’s widespread usage across the world, you can be understood anywhere．
(1)
Using the example of Obama, the author wants to show that _________．
[ ]
A．
there is still a long way to go to defeat Al-Qaida
B．
Obama likes to use OK when he speaks
C．
OK is widely used even on formal occasions
D．
the use of OK is encouraged in formal speech
(2)
According to Allen Metcalf, OK differs from other terms to express agreement, which of the following opinions is true?
The Beijing Olympic Games will have 21,880 torchbearers(火炬手)for the torch relay(火炬接力)．It is the biggest in the Games' history．Here let's know about some torchbearers．
?Luis Hone, 14, is from Colombia．He lives in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province．He moved to China with his parents as a baby．“I can speak English, Chinese and Spanish．I love China, which has been my world all my life,”he said．“The torch relay is a good chance to improve the understanding between people of the world．”
?Sang Lan, 26, will complete the torch relay using her wheelchair．Sang's fingers are not agile(灵活的)because of her injury(受伤)．The IOC officials suggested adding framework(框架)to her wheelchair to hold the torch．But she insists that she will hold the torch with her hands．“I believe if you put your heart into something, you can solve any problem,”she said．
?Liu Xuan, 17, is from Nanjing Foreign Language School．He is an energetic student．He enjoys various sports including football, basketball, badminton and running．“It will be an honor to be a torchbearer,”he said．
?Zhang Jie, 23, is a reporter with Guangzhou Daily．uTorch relay is a good way to let the world know China better,“Zhang said．Tin very proud that I can be part of it．”
(Teens Daily, Feb 21, 2008)
(1)
How long has Luis Hone been in China?
[ ]
A．
5 years．
B．
10 years．
C．
Less than 10 years．
D．
More than 10 years．
(2)
Who comes from Jiangsu among these four torchbearers?
[ ]
A．
Luis Hone．
B．
Sang Lan．
C．
Liu Xuan．
D．
Zhang Jie．
(3)
What can we learn from this article?
[ ]
A．
Zhang Jie is a reporter living in Zhuhai and working for Guangzhou Daily．
B．
Sang Lan will hold the torch with her hands．
C．
Luis is a student in a foreign language school．
D．
Liu Xuan can speak several languages．
阅读理解
The first ever trans-Atlantic telephone call was made from New York City to London in 1927．In keeping with this spirit, we'd like to tell you some of our other communication records：
Most spammed person(收到垃圾邮件最多的人)
Microsoft chairman William H．Gates Ⅲ(the U．S．A．)receives up to four million spams(垃圾邮件)each day．However, with the help of all the people who are working in Microsoft and anti-spam technology, only around ten spares reach his inbox per day．
Earliest email
In l971, Ray Tomlinson, an engineer at the computer company, and Newman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the U．S．A．sent the first email．At first it was an experiment to see if he could get two computers to exchange(交换)a message．(It was Ray who decided to use the @ symbol to separate(分开)the others' name from their location．The first email message was“QWERTYUIOP”．put the @ sign into the first e-mail message
Largest LAN(局域网)party
The largest LAN(Local Area Network)party was made up of 8, 531 unusual computers and 9, 184 members in Sweden from 30 November to 2 December 2006．
Most telephone books torn(撕)in three minutes．
Tina Shelton tore 21 telephone books at last, each with l, 028 numbered pages in a time of three minutes in California, the U．S．A．on 9 February 2007．
(1)
When was the first trans-Atlantic telephone call from New York to London made?
[ ]
A．
In l927．
B．
In l928．
C．
In l971．
D．
In2006．
(2)
Who is the person that receives up to four million email spams(垃圾邮件)each day?
[ ]
A．
William H．Gates Ⅲ．
B．
Ray Tomlinson．
C．
Newman．
D．
Tina Shelton．
(3)
Ray who decided to use ________ to separate the others' name from their location．
[ ]
A．
exchange a message
B．
“QWERTYUIOP”
C．
the@symbol
D．
an experiment
(4)
How long did the largest LAN party last?
[ ]
A．
Two days．
B．
Three days．
C．
Four days．
D．
Two months．
(5)
How long did Tina Shelton tear most telephone books?
[ ]
A．
Two minutes．
B．
Three minutes．
C．
Sixty-two minutes．
D．
Sixty-three minutes．
阅读理解
If someone asks me, “Do you like music?” I’m sure I will answer, “Of course, I do．” Because I think Music is an important part of our lives．
Different people have different ideas about Music．For me, I like rock music because it’s so exciting．And my favorite rock band, the “Fox Ladies” is one of the most famous rock bands in the world．I also like pop music．My classmate Li Lan loves dancing music, because she enjoys dancing．My best friend, Jane, likes jazz music．She thinks jazz is really cool．
“I like dance music and rock very much,” says my brother, “ because they are amazing．”
But my mother thinks rock music is boring．“I like some relaxing music,” she says．That’s why she likes country music, I think．
(1)
What kind of music does the writer like?
[ ]
A．
Rock and pop music
B．
Rock and dance music
C．
Jazz and country music
D．
Rock and jazz music
(2)
Who likes dancing?
[ ]
A．
The writer
B．
Lin Lan
C．
Jane
D．
The writer’s mother
(3)
The writer’s mother thinks that rock music is _________．
[ ]
A．
amazing
B．
boring
C．
relaxing
D．
exciting
阅读理解
Last year, we spent Christmas and New Year in Queensland, Australia．The beaches there were beautiful, and we spent a lot of time playing by the sea, swimming and surfing．One day, we were on a beach just south of a city called Cairns．My little siste was looking for shells in the sand down near the waves when she shouted to me,“Hey, Lan!Look what I’ve found!”I ran down to have a look, and saw her pointing at a strange black object that was half buried(掩埋)in the sand,“What is it?”she asked．I said I didn’t know．
Just then, my father came over,“Are you enjoying yourselves, you two?”he asked．Then he saw the strange black thing．“What’s that?”he said, bending down to take a closer look．Suddenly, he said,“Quick kids, get away from here．Go and play somewhere else．”
We went and played further down the beach, while Dad ran up to the shop near the beach to make a phone call．About 20 minutes later, we heard the noise of cars and trucks arriving, and a lot of soldiers ran onto the beach．They told everyone to leave the beach and stay away from it．
About half an hour later, we were sitting with Dad in a café a few hundred metres from the beach, when we heard an enormous explosion(爆炸)．“What was that?”we asked Dad．“That was the thing you found,”he said．“One of the soldiers down there told me it was a Japanese bomb(炸弹)from World War II．Sometimes they get washed up on the beaches here．”
(1)
The object they found was ________．
[ ]
A．
in the sand near the water
B．
in the sea
C．
lying on the beach
D．
floating(漂)on the sea
(2)
When Dad saw the object, he ________．
[ ]
A．
told the kids to play with it somewhere else
B．
knew it was something dangerous
C．
decided to move it quickly
D．
picked it up to take a closer look
(3)
Dad went to a shop near the beach________．
[ ]
A．
to meet the soldiers
B．
to buy some drinks for the kids
C．
to call for help
D．
in order to get away from the beach
(4)
The bomb on the beach ________．
[ ]
A．
was washed up by accident
B．
killed many people
C．
was put there by the Japanese
D．
was carried away by the Australian soldiers
阅读理解
If someone asks me, “Do you like music?” I am sure I will answer him or her．“Of course, I do．” Because I think music is an important part of our lives．
Different people have different ideas about music．For me, I like rock music because it’s so exciting．And my favourite rock band(摇滚乐队), the “Foxy Ladies” is one of the most famous rock bands in the world．I also like pop music．My classmate Li Lan loves dance music, because she enjoys dancing．My best friend, Jane, likes jazz music(爵士乐)．She thinks jazz is really cool．“I like dance music and rock very much,” says my brother, “because they are amazing．” But my mother thinks rock is boring．“I like some relaxing(轻松的)music．” she says, that is why she likes country music(乡村音乐), I think．
(1)
The writer likes music because he thinks _________．
[ ]
A．
it’s an exciting part of our lives
B．
it’s an amazing part of our lives
C．
it’s an important part of our lives
D．
it’s an interesting part of our lives
(2)
What kind of music does the writer like?
[ ]
A．
Jazz and country music．
B．
Rock and dance music．
C．
Rock and pop music．
D．
Rock and country music．
(3)
Who likes dancing?
[ ]
A．
The writer．
B．
Li Lan．
C．
Jane．
D．
The writer’s mother．
(4)
The writer’s mother thinks that country music is _________．
[ ]
A．
amazing
B．
boring
C．
relaxing
D．
cool
(5)
How many people’s ideas about music are talked about in this passage?
