Question

Many years ago，a French naturalist，the Count de Buffon，wrote some books about natural history．The books were a great success even though some critics did not like them．Some critics said，“Count Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist．”

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 spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant．

This troubled Thomas Jefferson．He too was a naturalist，as well as a farmer，inventor，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 the Count de Buffon．At that moment．Jefferson created a new word—belittle．He said．“The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic．”

Noah Webster，the American word expert，liked this word．He put it in this English language dictionary in 1806，“Belittle—to make small，unimportant．”

Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it．In 1797，the Independent Chronicle newspaper used the word to describe a politician the paper supported．“He is an honorable man，”the paper wrote，“so let the opposition try to belittle him as much as they please．”

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．”

This expert failed to kill the word．Today．belittle is used where the English language is spoken．

1.Why did Thomas Jefferson disagree with the Count de Buffon?

A．The Count said something silly about the Atlantic．

B．The Count wasn’t a true scientist in natural history．

C．The Count was a poet from a different country．

D．The Count belittled the natural wonders in America．

2.We can infer that Jefferson created the word“belittle”out of his ．

A．a(chǎn)nger B．excitement C．kindness D．responsibility

3.From the text we can know that ．

A．a(chǎn)ll critics thought little of the Count de Buffon

B．Europe has better wonders than the New World

C．the word“belittle”survived from disagreements

D．word experts can change the future of a new word

4.Which of the following is true of the word“belittle”?

A．It is gradually accepted by people．

B．It was invented by the Count de Buffon．

C．It was used to describe nature．

D．The Independent Chronicle made it popular．

5.What is the main idea of the text?

A．How the word“belittle”came into being．

B．The argument about natural wonders．

C．Every word has a long history behind．

D．Noah Webster supported Jefferson’s idea．

 

Answer 1

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.A

5.A

【解析】

試題分析：今天的單詞是"belittle"，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. 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段提到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 spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant．杰斐遜不喜歡the Count(伯爵)對新大陸自然奇觀的說法。在他看來，伯爵對美洲自然奇觀的描述脫離了他一貫的方式，似乎它們無足輕重，故選D項。

2. 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第四段提到In 1788，Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state，Virginia．While writing，he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of the Count de Buffon．At that moment．Jefferson created a new word—belittle．He said．“The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic．可知出于憤怒，故選A項。

3. 細節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)最后一段提到This expert failed to kill the word. 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. 這位專家失敗了。今天不僅美國和英國，說英語的其他國家也一直在使用belittle這個詞�？磥硐胍�人們忽視這個詞所做的努力都白費了故選C項。

4. 細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第三段提到Americans had already accepted Jefferson’s word and started to use it．可知人們接受這個單詞，故選A項。

5. 主旨大意。本文講述belittle是由美國總統(tǒng)托馬斯·杰斐遜首次提出并使用，故選A項。

考點：文化類閱讀。