Why does most of the world travel on the right side today? Theories differ, but there’s no doubt Napoleon was a major influence. The French have used the right since at least the late 18^th century. Some say that before the French Revolution, noblemen drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasants to the right. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-hand control, like Great Britain, followed their left-hand tradition.

The U.S. has not always been a nation of right-hand drivers; earlier in its history, carriage and horse traffic travelled on the left, as it did in England. But by the late 1700s, people driving large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses began promoting a shift（改变）to the right. A driver would sit on the rear（后面的）left horse in order to wave his whip（鞭子）with his right hand; to see opposite traffic clearly, they travelled on the right.

One of the final moves to firmly standardize traffic directions in the U.S. occurred in the 20^th century, when Henry Ford decided to mass-produce his cars with controls on the left (one reason, stated in 1908: the convenience for passengers exiting directly onto the edge, especially… if there is a lady to be considered). Once these rules were set, many countries eventually adjusted to the right-hand standard, including Canada in the 1920s, Sweden in 1967 and Burma in 1970. The U.K. and former colonies such as Australia and India are among the Western world’s few remaining holdouts(坚持不变者). Several Asian nations, including Japan, use the left as well--- though many places use both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive cars.

1.Why did people in Switzerland travel on the right?

A.They had used the right-hand traffic since the 18^th century.

B.Rich people enjoyed driving their carriages on the right.

C.Napoleon introduced the right-hand traffic to this country.

D.Hitler ordered them to go against their left-hand tradition.

2.Of all the countries below, the one that travels on the right is_________.

A.Austria

B.England

C.Japan

D.Australia

3.Henry Ford produced cars with controls on the left __________.

A.in order to change traffic directions in the U.S.

B.so that passengers could get off conveniently

C.because rules at that time weren’t perfect

D.though many countries were strongly against that

4.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A.Before the French Revolution, all the French people used the right.

B.People in Britain and the U.S. travel on the same side nowadays.

C.The Burmese began to travel on the right in 1970.

D.All the Asian nations use the left at present.

5.What would be the best title for this passage?

A.Who made the great contribution to the shift of traffic directions?

B.How cars have become a popular means of transportation?

C.How Henry Ford produced his cars with controls on the left?

D.Why don’t people all drive on the same side of road?

Why does most of the world travel on the right side today? Theories differ, but there’s no doubt that Napoleon was a major influence. The French had used the right since at least the late 18th century. Some say that before the French Revolution, noblemen drove their carriages on the left, forcing the peasants to the right. Regardless of the origin, Napoleon brought right-hand traffic to the nations he conquered, including Russia, Switzerland and Germany. Hitler, in turn, ordered right-hand traffic in Czechoslovakia and Austria in the 1930s. Nations that escaped right-hand control, like Great Britain, followed their left-hand tradition.
The U.S. has not always been a nation of right-hand rivers; earlier in its history, carriage and horse traffic traveled on the left, as it did in England. But by the late 1700s, people driving large wagons pulled by several pairs of horses began promoting a shift to the right. A driver would sit on the rear (后面的) left horse in order to wave his whip with his right hand; to see opposite traffic clearly, they traveled on the right.
One of the final moves to firmly standardize traffic directions in the U.S. occurred in the 20th century, when Henry Ford decided to mass-produce his cars with controls on the left (one reason, stated in 1908; the convenience for passengers exiting directly onto the edge, especially… if there is a lady to be considered). Once these rules were set, many countries eventually adjusted to the right-hand standard, including Canada in the 1920s, Sweden in 1967 and Burma in 1970. The U.K. and former colonies such as Australia and India are among the western world’s few remaining holdouts. Several Asian countries, including Japan, use the left as well — thought many places use both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive cars.
【小题1】Why did people in Switzerland travel on the right?

CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? The ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks(标点符号) probably didn’t bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc.

The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They·put·a·point·between·each·word·in·a·sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a prick(刺).

       When the 5^th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The space separated words and while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13^th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma.

       Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark comes form the Latin word xt. It was originally formed by putting an upper-case(大写字母) I on the lower-case xt. The Latin word xt means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word question, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question. Over time, it became a symbol formed by putting a lower-case q on an o.

         Punctuation is still changing today. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example, the “interrobang.” This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, “She did what??” or “How much did you pay for that dress??” Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized – yet. But its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation.

Which of the following is a comma?

A. ,                             B. :                       C.   ;                    D. !

What’s the first paragraph mainly about?

A. The history of punctuation.

B. The introduction of punctuation.

C. The very beginning of punctuation.

D. The ancient Greek way of writing without punctuation.

Please put the following events in the order they happened.

a. The exclamation mark and question mark came into the punctuation family.

b. Comma came into existence.

c. Romans put a dot between words to separate words.

d. A period was used to end a sentence.

e. The “interrobang” was invented.

A. cbdae                B. dcbae                C. dbcea                D. cdbae

What is the most possible situation for “She did what??”?

A. You are told she gave her baby boy a good beat.

B. You are wondering what she did to save the poor boy.

C. You want to know what she did for a living after fleeing to a foreign country.

D. You demand someone else tell you what in the world happened to her.

According to the article, we learn ________.

A. punctuation didn’t come into being until the 5^th century.

B. no one can really tell what new marks we may have in the future.

C. the invention of “interrobang” is a failure since it is not widely used.

D. both the exclamation mark and the question mark come from Greek words.

More people speak English than any other language except Chinese .English is the main language spoken in the United Kingdom，Ireland，Australia，New Zealand，Canada，the United States and some other countries. Altogether more than 450 million people speak English as their everyday language .Another 100 million or more speak at least some English. Most English words come from old Anglo­ Saxon，French，or Latin words.

Modern English developed through the efforts（努力） of literary(文学的)and political writings .Modern English was influenced by old English，the beginning of the university­ educated people，Shakespeare，the common language found in the middle of present­day England and an effort to show and standardize(使标准化)English.

British English，known as Standard English or Oxford English，underwent changes during the colonization(殖民)of North America and the creation（创建）of the United States .British English words changed into American English words，such as centre to center，metre to meter，theatre to theater and so on.

Until the 18th century，British and American English were very similar with almost no difference .Immigration（移民） to America by other English peoples changed the language by 1700.Noah Webster，author of the first authoritative(权威的)American English dictionary，created many changes.

1.Modern English developed through______.

A．the efforts of literary writings           B．the efforts of political writings

C．old Chinese                         D．both A and B

2.American English changed from______ during the colonization of North America and the creation of the United States.

A．British English    B．Standard English    C．Oxford English   D．all of the above

3.British English was almost similar to American English until the______ century.

A．20th           B．19th            C．18th           D．17th

4.What is the title of the passage?

A．Why more people speak English                      B. What modern English is

C．When British and American English had no difference     D．English and its development