5.In the last paragraph,the expression “get
rid of” means ________.
A.throw away B.set
free C.give up
D.do
with
C
The Origin of Words
About three hundred words in the English language come from the names of
people.Many of these words are technical words.When there is a new invention of
discovery,a new word may be coined(杜撰) after the inventor or scientist.
It is interesting to observe how many common words have found their way
into the language from the names of people.Lord Sandwich,who lived from
1718-1792,used to sit at the gambling(赌博) table eating bread with meat in between.As the Lord was the only
one among his friends who ate bread in that way,his friend began to call the
bread “sandwich” for fun..Later on the word became part of the English
language.
The word “boycott” means to refuse to have anything to do with somebody
or something.It comes from a man called Captain Boycott.He was a land agent in
1880 and he collected rents and taxes for an English landowner in Ireland.But the
Captain was a very harsh(苛刻的) man. He treated his poor tenants (佃户) very badly.His tenants decided not to speak to him at all.
Eventually word got back to the landowner and the Captain was removed.The word “boycott”
became popular and was used by everyone to mean the kind of treatment that was
received by Captain Boycott.
