British potato farmers were angry and wanted the expression “couch potato” to be taken out of the dictionary because it harmed the vegetable’s image.

The British Potato Council wants the Oxford English Dictionary to replace the expression with the term “couch slouch”, with protests being outside Parliament in London and the offices of Oxford University Press.

Kathryn Race, head of marketing at the Council, which represents some 4,000 planters and processors, said the group had complained in writing to the OED but had het to receive a response.

“We are trying to get rid of the image that potatoes are bad fro you,” she said on Monday.

“The potato has had its knocks in the past. Of course it is not the Oxford English Dictionary’s fault but we want to use another term instead of “couch potato” because potatoes are naturally healthy.”

The OED says the “couch potato” began as an American slang, meaning “a person who spends his or her leisure time sitting around, especially watching television or video tapes.”

The Potato Council says its campaign is backed by dieticians (饮食学家) who say the vegetable is low in fat and high in vitamin C.

Supporting the campaign, famous cook Antony Worrall Thompson said the vegetable was one of British’s favorite foods.

“Not only are they healthy, they are also convenient and yummy (美味). Life without potato is like a sandwich without a filling,” he said.

John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, said the dictionary first included the term “couch potato” in 1993 and said “dictionaries just reflect the words that society uses.”

Simpson said words were never taken out of the full-length dictionary, which includes some 650,000 words in 20 volumes.

But little-used words can removed from the smaller dictionaries to make way for newer ones.

“If society stops using words, then they get taken out of the smaller dictionaries,” he added.

The first known recorded use of the expression “couch potato” was in an article in Los Angeles Times in 1979, Simpson said.

Nigel Evans, a member of Parliament for the Ribble Valley in Lancashire, had made a motion in support of the campaign, highlighting the nutritional value of the British potato.

 

77. British potato farmers wanted to       .

       A. advertise their produce in a special manner

       B. call for a higher price for their potatoes

       C. remove “couch potato” from the dictionary

       D. let people know the importance of potatoes in life

78. The farmers think that       .

       A. potatoes have had a bad image

       B. potatoes are good for people by nature

       C. potatoes sometimes do harm to people

       D. it’s the dictionary’s fault to use the expression

79. John Simpson thinks that       .

       A. the expression can be taken out of every kind of dictionary

       B. dictionaries do not necessarily reflect the words society uses

       C. little-used words can remain in the smaller dictionaries

       D. it’s impossible for them to take the expression out of the dictionary

80. According to the farmers, “couch potato” is       .

       A. connected with unfavorable meaning

       B. a kind of potato with low production

       C. borrowed from American English

       D. connected with a person of bad quality

Members of an elephant family may be out of sight but they are always in the minds of the herd’s matriarchs (象群的女家长), researchers have found.

Tests have found that female elephants are able to remember the whereabouts of at least 17 family members simultaneously and perhaps as many as 30. They watch which of their relations are ahead of them when the herd searches for food, which of them are lagging behind and which are traveling in separate groups.

Professor Richard Byrne, of the University of St Andrews, said that the elephants performed a good memory by being able to recall where each of their relatives was in a changing environment. “It’s hard enough for us to watch two or three children in a busy shopping centre. Imagine trying to do it with 30 or so,” he said.

Researchers tested the ability of African elephants to remember where each family member had got to. Elephants have poor eyesight but an excellent sense of smell and are able to identify (鉴别) one another from traces of urine (尿) on the ground.

To test the memories of the elephants, samples of urine-soaked earth were collected by researchers and placed in positions where a herd was about to pass. Observations showed that the animals exhibited surprise when they could detect the odor of a family member they knew was behind them. Interest was shown when the urine was that of a close relative traveling in the same group or in a separate herd, but samples left by unknown individuals were ignored.

The researchers, who reported their findings in the journal Biology Letters, concluded: “ It seems that female elephants have a general interest in monitoring family members with whom they are traveling. Elephants’ order of traveling often changes and overtaking is common, suggesting that elephants must frequently update their expectation of where others are in relation to themselves.”

 

73. According to the passage, female elephants       .

       A. are usually stronger than male elephants

       B. usually stay at home while male elephants search for food

       C. can remember where their family members are while traveling

       D. can recognize the odor of human beings

74. The third paragraph is developed by       .

       A. space                   B. frequency             C. time                     D. comparison

75. Elephants identify their family members mainly by using their       .

       A. eyes                     B. nose                     C. ears                      D. mouth

76. What’s the researchers’ conclusion about their findings?

       A. Male elephants have no interest in other family members.

       B. An elephant never goes to search for food alone.

       C. Elephants don’t stay in the same order while traveling in groups.

       D. Elephants’ abilities to survive are beyond our expectations.

German academics believe they have solved the centuries-old mystery of the “Mona Lisa” in Leonardo ad Vinci’s famous portrait (人像画). Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a wealthy Florentine merchant, Francesco del Giocondo, has long been seen as the most likely model for the sixteenth-century painting.

Art historians have wondered whether the smiling woman may actually have been da Vinci’s lover or mother, or the artist himself.

Now experts at the Heidelberg University library say old notes made in a book by its owner in October, 1503, confirm that Lisa del Giocondo was indeed the model for the famous portrait in the world.

“All doubts about the identity of the Mona Lisa have been removed by a discovery by Dr. Armin Schlechter,” the library said in a statement on Monday. “Until then, only ‘scant (不足的) evidence’ from sixteenth-century documents had been available. These had left lots of room for doubt, and many different identities were put forward.”

The comments compare Leonardo to the ancient Greek artist Apelles, and say he was working on three paintings at that time, one of which was a portrait of Lisa del Giocondo.

Art experts say the Heidelberg discovery is a break-through, and the earliest mention linking the merchant’s wife to the portrait.

Before this discovery the earliest link dated from around 1550, and was made by Italian official Giorgio Vasari, the library said, adding that there had been doubts about Vasari’s reliability.

The Heidelberg notes were actually discovered over two year’s ago in the library by Schlechter, a spokeswoman said. Although the findings were published in the library’s catalogue, they were not widely publicized, and received little attention until a German broadcaster decided to do some recording there, she said.

 

65. What is the model for the “Mona Lisa”, according to experts at the library?

       A. Lisa Gherardini.                                       B. Francesco del Giocondo.

       C. da Vinci’s lover.                                    D. da Vinci’s mother.

66. Who discovered the Heidelberg notes?

       A. Francesco del Giocondo.                       B. Dr. Armin Schlechter.

       C. The spokeswoman.                               D. A German broadcaster.

67. It was diffcult to identify the model for the “Mona Lisa” before, because       .

       A. the smile in the picture was too mysterious

       B. the picture was not clear enough

       C. many people in that time looked like her.

       D. there was not enough evidence.

68. Why was the Heidelberg discovery a breakthrough?

       A. Because it was made by many experts.

       B. Because it got rid of all doubts.

       C. Because it definitely connected the merchant’s wife to the portrait.

       D. Because it identified when the portrait was finished.

To “sacrifice” means to give up something for the sake of something else. We decided to sacrifice our luxurious city life to move to a seaside village with our children aged 9 and 3. In the city, we had a beautiful home and plenty of money but little real security because crime was on the increase every day. We never knew if we would all make it home safely each night.

We were very happy in the new town but life was very difficult economically. Our income was very much dependent on tourism and the jobs at other times are few. Although many of the long-standing residents live well, it is a very competitive environment for newcomers.

Reading the newspapers from the big cities assured us that we had made the right choice. There is so much violence and crime there! However, it was not always easy to explain .to the children why they could no longer have what they used to have, especially when our “rich” friends came from the city to visit.

One day, one of our “rich” friends came to visit us. His son preferred riding in the back of our beat-up truck to his father’s modern car. Our little daughter called me and said, “Mom, please help me explain to James why he is wrong. He said, ‘today, if you don’t have money you are nothing.’ I know that is not true. If you do have money you share it with your friends and if they don’t have money, you share it with them. That is what makes us all rich.”

This made me realize that the sacrifice was well worth it. Our kids have a solid set of values and they know that our most precious gifts are our good friends and a wonderful environment.

 

61. Why did the family move away from the city?

       A. They were tired of city life.                    B. The city was not safe enough.

       C. The people in the city were not friendly.  D. Life in the city was too expensive.

62. Why was it “a very competitive environment” for them according to the author?

       A. The residents were all very poor.

       B. Their children couldn’t get what they had in the city.

       C. It was hard to make a living.                 

       D. They had few friends in their new environment.

63. What assured the author that they had made the right choice according to the passage?

       A. What she read in the newspapers.

       B. The beautiful scenery of the countryside.

       C. The residents’ living conditions.

       D. The fact that they had been used to the new place.

64. What does the underlined word “beat-up” in the last paragraph probably mean?

       A. Expensive and attractive.                        B. Beautiful and new.

       C. Powerful and convenient.                       D. Old and damaged.

Condoleezza Rice is used to standing out It is not only because she holds the position as U.S. Secretary of State. Her youth, gender and skin color have   41   a lot of attention throughout her political career.

Condoleezza Rice,   42   as Condi to her close friends, was born in 1954 in Birmingham. During the 1950s, blacks were not treated as   43   citizens in the south. Although slavery was   44   in 1865, the southern states passed their own laws to continue the   45   of blacks and whites. Despite the discrimination (歧视)   46   black people, her parents told her she could become   47   she wanted. They taught her to believe that great things were   48   for her.

Rice was a gifted student with a   49   for the piano and she entered college at the age of 15 with the   50   of becoming a concert pianist. Along the way she was   51   by political scientist Josef Korbel, the father of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Rice   52   her plans and studied international politics, and in the 1980s she was teaching at Stanford University,   53   her career developed quickly. She   54   on George H. Bush’s national security council in 1989. Later she   55   to Stanford, and became its youngest, first female and first   56   provost (教务长) after two years.

In 2001, Rice re-entered the political world,   57   George W. Bush’s national security advisor. She has drawn international   58   in this position, and has been the most powerful national security advisor in American   59   . She held this position until 2005, when   60   Security of State.

 

41. A. directed

B. turned

C. paid

D. attracted

42. A. known

B. considered

C. seen

D. accepted

43. A. respectful

B. equal

C. responsible

D. loyal

44. A. finished

B. stopped

C. prevented

D. ended

45. A. difference

B. disagreement

C. separation

D. division

46. A. against

B. to

C. with

D. towards

47. A. whoever

B. whomever

C. whatever

D. whichever

48. A. desiring

B. waiting

C. preparing

D. longing

49. A. talent

B. interest

C. hobby

D. favorite

50. A. imagination

B. goal

C. intention

D. attention

51. A. effected

B. persuaded

C. impressed

D. influenced

52. A. changed

B. decided

C. canceled

D. exchanged

53. A. which

B. where

C. when

D. that

54. A. acted

B. waited

C. served

D. called

55. A. visited

B. settled

C. attended

D. returned

56. A. black

B. white

C. powerful

D. determined

57. A. turning

B. holding

C. becoming

D. taking

58. A. praise

B. agreement

C. criticism

D. attention

59. A. politics

B. history

C. culture

D. government

60. A. elected

B. invited

C. appointed

D. represented

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