7.Look at the keyboard of any standard typewriter or computer."Q","W","E","R","T"and"Y"are the first six letters.Who decided on this arrangement of the letters?And why?
People tried for centuries to invent the typewriter.In 1714in England,Henry Mill filed a patent for a machine called An Artificial Machine or Method for the Impressing or Transcribing of Letters,Singly or Progressively one after another,as in Writing.With this machine,whatever writing can be shown on paper or parchment,so neat and exact as not to be distinguished from print.That machine probably didn't sell because no one could remember its name!
The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868by Christopher Latham Sholes.His machine was known as the type-writer.It had a movable carriage,a lever for turning paper from line to line,and a keyboard on which the letters were arranged in alphabetical order.
But Sholes had a problem.On his first model,his"ABC"key arrangement caused the keys to jam when the typist worked quickly.Sholes didn't know how to keep the keys from sticking,so his solution was to keep the typist from typing too fast.Sholes asked his brother-in-law to rearrange the keyboard so that the commonest letters were not so close together and the type bars would come from opposite directions.Thus they would not clash together and jam the machine.The new arrangement was the QWERTY arrangement typists use today.Of course,Sholes claimed that the new arrangement was scientific and would add speed and efficiency.The only efficiency it added was to slow the typist down,since almost any word in the English language required the typist's fingers to cover more distance on the keyboard.
The advantages of the typewriter outweighed the disadvantages of the keyboard.Typists memorized the crazy letter arrangement,and the typewriter became a huge success.By the time typists had memorized the new arrangement of letters and built their speed,typewriter technology had improved,and the keys didn't stick as badly as they had at first.
41.Who invented the first practical typewriter?C
A.Henry Mill
B.Sholes'brother-in-law
C.Christopher Latham Sholes
D.Albert Einstein
42.The author thinks the machine invented by Henry Mill could not be sold becauseC.
A.it was difficult for people to accept new things
B.there were great disadvantages of the keyboard
C.the name of the machine was too long
D.the writing could not be distinguished from print
43.Sholes decided the QWERTY arrangement of the keyboard in order toB.
A.a(chǎn)rrange the letters in alphabetical order
B.solve the problem of the keys jamming
C.cause the keys to jam when the typist worked quickly
D.compete with"ABC"key arrangement
44.We can infer that the QWERTY arrangement of the keyboardA.
A.keeps the typist from typing too fast
B.a(chǎn)dds speed and efficiency of typists
C.is easy for typists to memorize
D.is the most scientific arrangement
45.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?B
A.The Story of Christopher Latham Sholes
B.The Arrangement of the Letters on Keyboard
C.How to Invent the Typewriter
D.The First Practical Typewriter.
分析 本篇文章主要講述了打字機(jī)的歷史發(fā)展以及鍵盤上字母排列順序的科學(xué)性,解釋了鍵盤上的字母順序的來(lái)源.
解答 41.C.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第三段中的"The first practical typewriter was patented in the United States in 1868 by Christopher Latham Sholes",第一臺(tái)實(shí)用的打字機(jī)專利在1868由美國(guó)的 Christopher Latham Sholes申請(qǐng),可知C選項(xiàng)正確.故選C.
42.C.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第二段中的"That machine probably didn't sell because no one could remember its name!",可推知,作者認(rèn)為機(jī)器可能賣不出去是因?yàn)樗拿痔L(zhǎng)了,沒有人能記住.故選C.
43.B.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第四段中的"…h(huán)is‘ABC'key arrangement caused the keys to jam when the typist worked quickly"可知,肖爾斯決定"QWERTY"這種排列,是為了解決"ABC"鍵這種排列所引起的"鍵堵塞"問題.故選B.
44.A.細(xì)節(jié)理解題.根據(jù)第四段中的"…h(huán)is solution was to keep the typist from typing too fast."和"The only efficiency it added was to slow the typist down…",可知QWERTY排列只能讓打字員的打字速度慢下來(lái),故選A.
45.B.主旨大意題.本文主要介紹了鍵盤上QWERTY這種字母排列順序的來(lái)由.第一段中的"Who decided on this arrangement of the letters?And why?"是全文的主旨句,文章后面的內(nèi)容都是圍繞這兩個(gè)問題展開的.故選B.
點(diǎn)評(píng) 本篇閱讀題目較多.因此考生要重視文章的標(biāo)題和文章的首句,因?yàn)槲恼碌臉?biāo)題或首句往往就是文章的主題,有利于考生理解全文內(nèi)容.