题目内容
There is good and bad news for parents today. The word “mother” has been voted the most beautiful word in the English language. But “father” failed even to make it on the list of the 70 best words in a survey of thousands of non-English speakers across the world. From Ankara to Zurich, “mother” was voted above “love”, “smile” and “blossom”.
In second place was “passion”, followed by “smile”, “love” and “eternity”, with “fantastic”, “destiny”, “freedom”, “liberty” and “tranquility” completing the top 10.
The results were given by the British Council (英国文化协会)which carried out a huge survey of more than 40,000 people in 102 non-English speaking countries.
The study was done to celebrate the group’s 70th anniversary —and it threw up a few surprising words to the list.
“It's interesting that ‘mother’, the only word of the 70 that describes a direct relationship between people, came top of the poll (投票)”,said British Council spokesman Greg Selby. “It is great to see words in the survey that are so positive and suggestive of the British Council’ s purpose -- words such as ‘freedom’, ‘liberty’, ‘peace’.”
Those surveyed were allowed to choose their words on either meaning or sound, said Mr. Selby. This explained why words that are satisfying to pronounce, like “flip-flop”, made the list.
Famous mothers like Kate Winslet, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer have all done their bit to make the word popular.
Kate, 28, even stopped shooting Woody Allen's new film to spend more time with her young family.
Singer Robbie Williams is proud to express his love for his mother, while actor Peter Kay went through a marathon British tour to pay for a new house for his mom.
The mood (情绪) was added to by Britney Spears, yesterday as she showed her love for her mother.
She said: “My mom was and still is a supermom. She is just so much fun and I think the reason why I love so much her is because she’s a young mom.”
She added: “Mom, thanks for being the best role model—you rock.”
65. Which of the following shows the correct order of the first five words?
A. Mother, smile, passion, love and eternity.
B. Mother, passion, smile, love and eternity.
C. Mother, smile, love, eternity and passion.
D. Mother-in-law, passion, smile, love and eternity.
66. What can we infer (推断) from the passage?
A. It is Kate Winslet, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer that made their efforts to make the word “mother” popular.
B. Kate stopped shooting a new film in order to stay with her family.
C. Peter Kay took part in a marathon in order to pay for a new house for his mother.
D. Britney Spears took pride in her mother.
67. What does the underlined words in the last paragraph mean?
A. You are great. B. You like rock and roll.
C. It is the cradle (摇篮) that you rock. D. You shake.
68. What do you think is the best title of the passage?
A. Mother is the most beautiful word in the English language.
B. Mother is the first word in the English language.
C. Mother should be respected.
D. A survey on the word--“mother”
BDAA
