Languages keeps evolving(进化、发展), and English is no exception.It is a language that embraces(欣然接受)new words that may be cool today but gone tomorrow.
There are, however, some words and phrases that have stood the test of time.OK, which has become the international standard for expressing agreement, is a good example.
But why is this rather odd(奇怪的)expression so popular and so useful when we could use any number of other words to say the same thing?
Writing in The Times, Allen Metcalf, author of OK:The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, writes:“What OK provided that the others did not was neutrality(中性), a way to express agreement without having to offer an opinion.”
For example, if someone asks you “Shall we go for a walk after lunch?” you can simply respond “OK”.There you go-no extra opinions.Just straight, plain old OK.
So just where did this rather curious expression come from? The origins of OK have been widely disputed(辩论,争论).Some people have guessed that OK was the name of a person or a product.
Speakers of many different languages have had their say on this question, keen to claim the term as their own.
Writing an article for London’s Metro newspaper, Metcalf states:‘O and K are present in every language of the world, as expressions that can be abbreviated(缩写)OK.” For example:French-“O qu-oui”, “yes indeed”; German-“Ohne Korrektur”,“ without correction needed”; and in Latin or Greek, “Olla kalla”, “all good”.
But, does it sound a little too informal with this popular little expression?
Apparently not.
In a speech where he stated that his election(当选)would not be a radical(激进的)result to all problems, President Obama said:“…even though I am president…, AI-Qaida is still a threat(威胁)and that we cannot pretend somehow that because Barack Hussein Obama got elected as president, suddenly everything’s going to be OK,” he said.
So, there you go, straight from the president.It’s OK to say OK, and thanks to the expression’s widespread usage across the world, you can be understood anywhere.
(1)
Using the example of Obama, the author wants to show that _________.
[ ]
A.
there is still a long way to go to defeat Al-Qaida
B.
Obama likes to use OK when he speaks
C.
OK is widely used even on formal occasions
D.
the use of OK is encouraged in formal speech
(2)
According to Allen Metcalf, OK differs from other terms to express agreement, which of the following opinions is true?
Kids make different (1) for new year. Some hope that the days will pass by (2) . Why? Because they are waiting to (3) a new book, “Harry Potter and the Half?blood Prince (《哈利-波特和半血王子》)”! It is (4) book in the Harry Potter stories. It will be in bookstores in Britain and the US on July 16. Chinese kids will (5) read it three months later. The last one, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” came out (6) June 21, 2003.“I only hope you feel it was worth (值得) the wait when you finally read it,” said the writer J. K Rowling, (7) the Internet. Rowling, 39, is going to have her third baby. The (8) book tells of Harry’s sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (霍格沃兹巫术和魔法学校). Rowling has been (9) how to start the new book (10) many years. She gave her readers some hints (提示) (11) what the book was about.Rowling(12) said who the Half?Blood Prince is. But she did say it is (13) Harry nor Voldemort. One of her characters (角色) will die in the book. No one (14) who it will be. It’s still a secret. However, fans can be sure Harry is safe for now. Rowling has said this may be the sixth and final book about Harry (15) a young boy. On the Internet, Rowling said the book will probably be shorter than the 870 pages of the last one.