Question

【題目】 Many years ago, a French naturalist, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history. 【1】.

Thomas Jefferson did not like what the Count had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant. 【2】. He, too, was a naturalist, as well as a historian, writer and politician. He had seen the natural wonders of Europe. To him, they were no more important than those of the New World.

In 1788,Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state, Virginia. While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon. 【3】. He said, “The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”

【4】. However, in 1872, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. He said, “Belittle has no chance of becoming English. And as more critical writers of America, like those of Britain, feel no need of it, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.”

【5】. Today, belittle is used, not only in the United States and England, but in other countries where the English language is spoken. It seems that efforts to belittle the word did not stop people from using it.

A.The books were a great success even though some people did not like them

B.They talked about the great cultural relics of different countries

C.Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it

D.The Count de Buffon was thought highly of at that time

E.At that moment, Jefferson created a new word -- belittle

F.This expert failed to kill the word

G.This troubled Thomas Jefferson

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】G

【3】E

【4】C

【5】F

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文。文章主要介紹單詞“belittle(貶低)”的由來，它是由美國第三任總統(tǒng)托馬斯·杰斐遜首次提出并使用。

【1】

根據(jù)前句“Many years ago, a French naturalist, the Count de Buffon, wrote some books about natural history.(許多年前，一位法國博物學(xué)家布豐伯爵寫了一些關(guān)于自然史的書。)”可知，這里的內(nèi)容與這些書有關(guān)。所以A選擇項(xiàng)“The books were a great success even though some people did not like them(盡管有些人不喜歡這些書，但它們還是大獲成功。)”符合語境。故選A。

【2】

根據(jù)前句“It seemed to Jefferson that the Count had gone out of his way to speak of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant. (在杰斐遜看來，伯爵在談到美國的自然奇觀時(shí)，總是不厭其煩，好像它們并不重要似的。)”可知，這里的內(nèi)容與杰斐遜感受有關(guān)。所以G選擇項(xiàng)“This troubled Thomas Jefferson (這讓托馬斯·杰斐遜很苦惱。)”符合語境。故選G。

【3】

根據(jù)前句“While writing, he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Count de Buffon. (寫作時(shí)，他想到了那里的自然美景，又想到了布豐伯爵的話。)”和后句“He said, “The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic.”(他說:“布豐伯爵認(rèn)為大自然貶低了她在大西洋此岸所創(chuàng)造的奇觀。”)”可知，這里的內(nèi)容與杰斐遜創(chuàng)造新詞有關(guān)。所以E選擇項(xiàng)“At that moment, Jefferson created a new word -- belittle (就在那時(shí)，杰斐遜創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)新詞——貶低。)”符合語境。故選E。

【4】

根據(jù)后句“However, in 1872, a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word. (然而，在1872年，一位著名的美國詞匯專家認(rèn)為是時(shí)候消滅這個(gè)詞了。)”根據(jù)這里的轉(zhuǎn)折可知，此詞已被人們接受并使用。所以C選擇項(xiàng)“Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it (美國人已經(jīng)接受了杰斐遜的這個(gè)詞并開始使用它。)”符合語境。故選C。

【5】

根據(jù)后句“Today, belittle is used, not only in the United States and England, but in other countries where the English language is spoken. (今天，貶低不僅在美國和英國使用，在其他說英語的國家也使用。)”可知，貶低這個(gè)詞沒有被消滅。所以F選擇項(xiàng)“This expert failed to kill the word (這位專家沒能消滅這個(gè)詞。)”符合語境。故選F。