Question

【题目】

What do you say when you pick up the phone?

You say “hello”, of course.

What do you say when someone introduces a friend, a relative, anybody at all?

You say “hello”.

“Hello” has been for a long time considered to be the standard English language greeting since English people began greeting. But is that true?

It may be the most spoken word on the planet and the English word that most people learn first. The word is so familiar to us that it's surprising how new it is: “hello” has only been in use for about the last 200 years of the 1000-year history of English.

The Oxford English Dictionary says the first published use of “hello” goes back only to 1827. But it wasn't mainly a greeting back then. People in the 1830s said “hello” to attract attention (“Hello, what do you think you're doing?”), or to express surprise (“Hello, what do we have here?”).

But the true breakthrough for this now-common word was when it was used in the service of brand-new technology: the telephone. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was Thomas Edison who put “hello” into common usage. He asked the people who used his phone to say “hello” when answering—which required people to address an unseen and unknown person. It was simpler and more efficient (高效的) than some other greetings used in the early days of the telephone, such as “Do I get you?” and “Are you there?” However, the actual inventor of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell, thought that the better word was “ahoy”, which turns out to be much longer—at least 100 years longer—than “hello”. It too, was a greeting from the Dutch (荷兰语) “hoi” meaning “hello.” For his entire life, Bell insisted on answering the phone with “Ahoy.”

“Hello” obviously caught on, and spread along with the telephone. Had it not been for Edison, our greetings might be very different today. It could be possible that we are still greeting people with “Ahoy” when picking up the phone.

【1】How long has “hello” been used in the 1000-year history of the English language?

【2】What was the purpose of people saying “hello” in the 1830s?

【3】Who put “hello” into common usage?

【4】What word did Bell prefer to use when answering the phone?

【5】What is the passage mainly about?

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】For about 200 years.

【2】To attract attention or to express surprise.

【3】Thomas Edison.

【4】Ahoy.

【5】The history of using “hello” as greetings.

【解析】

长时间以来“你好”一直用于标准英语的问候，但是最开始，“你好”是用来引起注意的或表达惊讶。但是直到发明了电话，“你好”才成为常用语。本文介绍了“你好”作为问候的历史。

【1】根据“‘hello’ has only been in use for about the last 200 years of the 1000-year history of English.”可知在英语的1000年历史里“你好”在最后的200年左右被使用。故答案为For about 200 years.

【2】根据“People in the 1830s said ‘hello’ to attract attention (‘Hello, what do you think you're doing? ’), or to express surprise (‘Hello, what do we have here? ’).”可知当时的人们说“你好”是为了引起注意或者表达惊讶。在故答案为To attract attention or to express surprise.

【3】根据“According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it was Thomas Edison who put “hello” into common usage.”可知，牛津词典中写道，托马斯·爱迪生把“你好”用作常用语。故答案为Thomas Edison.

【4】根据“…Alexander Graham Bell, thought that the better word was ‘ahoy’…”可知Bell更习惯用“ahoy”应答电话。故答案为Ahoy.

【5】本文第五段“‘Hello’ has been for a long time considered to be the standard English language greeting since English people began greeting. But is that true?”引出下文，介绍Hello最开始用于表达惊讶或引起注意，然后电话的发明开始，才用于问候，因此本文主要介绍“hello”作为问候的历史。故答案为The history of using “hello” as greetings.