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; I 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!  

60. “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

61. A website address can be easily found if it has been            .

A. emailed            B. messaged          C. favorited          D. texted

62. Which of the following has not been used as a verb yet?

A. message            B. page                 C. email               D. mobile

63. 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

Below is a discussion on http://www.TalkingPoints.com/.
Stuck on a desert island?
Started on 23rd April by Steve                   Posts 1 – 7 of 42
Post 1
Steve
USA Hi, everyone. What would you miss most and least if you were stuck on a desert island? For me, it would be the changing seasons in New England. I guess this will sound stupid but I’d probably miss the rain, too. I would not miss getting up at six every day to go to work, though! What about you?
Post 2
Tomas
Germany Good question. Steve, I think I’d miss different types of bread, and shopping at the supermarket. I’d miss the food most. What would I miss least? My mobile phone---I’d like to be completely quiet --- at least for a little while
Post 3
Paola
Italy I would miss the company of people because I know I’d like to have someone to share experiences with. I’d go mad on my own. And I sure would not miss junk (垃圾)mail--- I hate coming home every evening and a pile of junk mail in my post box.
Post 4
Miko
Japan Hi, I would miss Manga cartoon, the internet and Japanese food, like sushi. I’d also miss TV shows and shopping for clothes… In fact, I’d miss everything.
Post 5
Roger
UK I would miss my daily newspaper and listening to the news on TV and radio. I’d feel very cut off if I didn't know what was happening in the world. What I’d miss least would be traffic jams in the city, particularly my journey to work.
Past 6
Jayne Why hasn't anyone mentioned their family? I’d be lost without my husband and two kids. They’re the most important for me. And I can’t get started in the morning without a cup of black coffee. I wouldn't miss doing the housework! 
Post 7
Jaime
Mexico It would have to be music. I couldn't live without my music. I wouldn't miss going to school at all or doing homework!
【小题1】Who would miss his or her family most?

A.JaimeB.JayneC.MikoD.Paola.
【小题2】Which of the following people would feel most uncomfortable without the news media?
A.Steve.B.JaimeC.Roger.D.Tomas
【小题3】How many of them mentioned that they would miss food or drink?
A.OneB.TwoC.ThreeD.Four
【小题4】Where is the passage probably taken from?
A.Newspaper B.Internet C.Textbook D.Magazine

Recently, university students around the world were asked to volunteer in a global experiment called Unplugged. It was designed to see how young people would react if they were asked to observe a total media ban by unplugging all forms of media devices for 24 hours.

Unplugged is being run by Dr. Roman Gerodimos, a lecturer in Communication and Journalism at Bournemouth University.During the experiment, Dr. Gerodimos said there were already signs of how much the exercise affected volunteers.He said:“They’re reporting withdrawal symptoms, overeating, feeling nervous, isolated and disconnected.”

During their 24-hour test, three of the experiment’s participants were followed around by a BBC reporter plus cameraman.They were asked to write down 100 lines about their day offline, but of course, they all waited until the next day when they had access to their laptops.

Elliot Day wrote:“Today, my whole morning routine was thrown up into the air.Despite being aware of the social importance of the media, I was surprised by how empty my life felt without the radio or newspapers.”

From Caroline Scott, we read:“I didn’t expect it, but being deprived of the media for 24 hours resulted in my day-to-day activities becoming so much harder to carry out than usual…I didn’t break out in a cold sweat like our lecturer expected us all to, but It’s not something I would like to do again!”

And Charlotte Gay wrote:“I have to say the most difficult item for me to be without has been  my mobile;not only is it a social device, it’s my main access point of communication.”

Earlier in the year, a UK government study found that in the UK we spend about half our waking hours using the media, often plugged into several things at once.So, with technology continuing to develop at an alarming rate, how much time will you set aside for sleep in the future?

1.What can we learn about the volunteers?

A.Volunteers didn’t write down about their day offline.

B.Volunteers weren’t allowed to use any media for 24 hours.

C.Volunteers were followed around by Dr Roman Gerodimos.

D.Only volunteers in the UK took part in Unplugged experiment.

2.Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the participants’ feelings?

A.Anxious.         B.Lonely            C.Bored.          D.Despaired.

3.Which of the following is true of Caroline Scott?

A.The media ban affected his temperature.

B.His work went on smoothly without the media.

C.His work was carried on hard without the media.

D.His life was empty without the radio or newspapers.

4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A.People should use the media devices reasonably.

B.People can easily survive the media devices addict.

C.People can spend more time sleeping in the future.

D.People spend about half the time using the media devices.

5.The text is most probably a         

A.newspaper ad      B.book review       C.news report        D.science fiction story

 

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