Question

Many years ago，a French naturalist，the Count de Buffon，wrote some books about natural history．The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them．Some critics said，“Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist．”

Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World．It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant．

This troubled Thomas Jefferson．He too was a naturalist，as well as a farmer，inventor，historian，writer and politician．He had seen the natural wonders of Europe．To him，they were no more important than those of the New World．

In 1788，Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state，Virginia．While writing，he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of the Count de Buffon．At that moment．Jefferson created a new word—belittle．He said．“The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic．”

Noah Webster，the American word expert，liked this word．He put it in this English language dictionary in 1806，“Belittle—to make small，unimportant．”

Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it．In 1797，the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported．“He is an honorable man，”the paper wrote，“so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please．”

In 1872，a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word．He said，“Belittle has no chance of becoming English．And as more critical writers of America，like those of Britain，feel no need of it，the sooner it is forgotten，the better．”

This expert failed to kill the word．Today．belittle is used where the English language is spoken．

1.Why did Thomas Jefferson disagree with the Count de Buffon?

A．The Count said something silly about the Atlantic．

B．The Count wasn’t a true scientist in natural history．

C．The Count was a poet from a different country．

D．The Count belittled the natural wonders in America．

2.We can infer that Jefferson created the word“belittle”out of his ___________．

A．anger B．excitement

C．kindness D．responsibility

3.From the text we can know that ______________．

A．all critics thought little of the Count de Buffon

B．Europe has better wonders than the New World

C．the word“belittle”survived from disagreements

D．word experts can change the future of a new word

4.Which of the following is true of the word“belittle”?

A．It is gradually accepted by people．

B．It was invented by the Count de Buffon．

C．It was used to describe nature．

D．The Independent Chronicle made it popular．

5.What is the main idea of the text?

A．How the word“belittle”came into being．

B．The argument about natural wonders．

C．Every word has a long history behind．

D．Noah Webster supported Jefferson’s idea．

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：这篇文章主要介绍了和贬低有关的belittle这个词汇的由来。

1.推断题：根据It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant.可知杰斐逊不同意法国博学家蒲丰认为他有贬低美国自然奇迹的意思， 故选D。

2. This troubled Thomas Jefferson．He too was a naturalist，as well as a farmer，inventor，historian，writer and politician．He had seen the natural wonders of Europe．To him，they were no more important than those of the New World．意思是杰斐逊很生气法国博学家这样描写美国自然风光，处于生气创造了这个词。故选A。

3.细节题：根据This expert failed to kill the word．Today．belittle is used where the English language is spoken尽管大家对这个词汇充满争议但至今人们仍然使用它，故选C。

4.Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it．可知很多人都开始接受这个词汇，故选A。

5.5】主旨题，全文讲述了belittle这个词汇的由来，故选A.

考点：考查词汇故事类阅读