Question

People often say that money talks. They mean that a person with a lot of money can say how he or she wants things done. But it is not easy to earn enough money to gain this kind of power.

Ask anyone in business. They will tell you that it is a jungle out there. The expression probably began because a jungle is filled with wild animals and unknown dangers that threaten people.

People in business have to be careful if they are to survive the jungle out there. They must not be led into making bogus investments. Bogus means something that is not real.

Nobody is sure how the word got started. But it began to appear in American newspapers in the 1800s. A newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, said the word came from a criminal whose name was Borghese. Borghese wrote checks to people although he did not have enough money in the bank. After he wrote the checks, he would disappear. So, people who were paid with his checks received nothing. The newspaper said Americans shortened and changed the criminal’s name Borghese to Bogus.

People trying to earn money must be also aware of the risk of being ripped off. A writer for a magazine said he first saw the expression used in 1971. It was on a sign that a student carried during a protest demonstration at a university. The message on the sign was that the student felt cheated.

To be successful, a person in business works hard and tries to get down to brass tacks. This expression means to get to the bottom or the most important part of something. For example, a salesman may talk about his product without saying the price. You get down to brass tacks when you say, “it sounds good, but how much does it cost?”

Word expert Charles Funk thinks the expression comes from sailors on ships. They clean the bottom of a boat. When they have removed all the dirt, they are down to the copper pieces that hold the ship together. So, if we get down to brass tacks, we can prevent rip-offs and bogus ways of earning money in that jungle out there. And, some good luck will help, too.

1.Why do people say money talks?

A. Because the rich tend to decide a thing.

B. Because money can tell us something.

C. Because it is hard to earn much money.

D. Because everyone loves to have money.

2.My uncle is in a jungle out there, which means .

A. he will fight against wild animals

B. he is interested to go through a jungle

C. he will face many difficulties soon

D. he is a success in his own business

3.When you ask how much it cost, it means .

A. you declare you won’t be cheated

B. you get down to the real issues

C. you care nothing about the quality

D. you are always caring about money

4.It can be inferred from the passage that .

A. many English words have their interesting stories

B. brass is a necessary piece of equipment of a ship

C. many businessmen have been cheated in life

D. Charles Funk has created many interesting words

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.B

4.A

【解析】試題分析：文章大意：本文介紹了幾個(gè)英語(yǔ)詞匯的來(lái)源及寓意。

1.They mean that a person with a lot of money can say how he or she wants things done.可知，人們說(shuō)錢能說(shuō)話的原因就是許多有錢人能決定事情怎么做。故A正確。

2.The expression probably began because a jungle is filled with wild animals and unknown dangers that threaten people.可得知，此習(xí)語(yǔ)是指“他很快就會(huì)面對(duì)許多困難”。所以C正確。

3.You get down to brass tacks when you say, “it sounds good, but how much does it cost?”可得知答案選B、你問(wèn)到了實(shí)質(zhì)性問(wèn)題。

4.f we get down to brass tacks, we can prevent rip-offs，可推斷tack是船上的重要零件，而brass是修飾tack的，所以不能說(shuō)brass是船的重要零件，所以C項(xiàng)不正確。

考點(diǎn)：考查說(shuō)明文閱讀。