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Passage
One
Have
you ever heard "hit the nail on the head"? Have you ever
watched a clumsy man hammering a nail into a box? He hits
it first to one side, then to another, perhaps knocking
it over completely, so that in the end he only gets half
of it into the wood. A skillful carpenter, on the other
hand, will drive home the nail with a few firm, deft blows,
hitting it each time squarely on the head. So it is with
language; the good craftsman will choose words that drive
home his point firmly and exactly. A word that is more or
less right, a loose phrase, an ambiguous expression, a vague
adjective, will not satisfy a writer who aims at clean English.
He will try always to get the word that is completely right
for his purpose.
The French have an apt phrase for this.
They speak of "le mot juste", the word that is just right.
Stories are told of scrupulous writers, like Flaubert, who
spent days trying to get one or two sentences exactly right.
Words are many and various; they are subtle and delicate
in their different shades of meaning, and it is not easy
to find the ones that express precisely what we want to
say. It is not only a matter of having a good command of
language and a fairly wide vocabulary; it is also necessary
to think hard and to observe accurately. Choosing words
is part of the process of realization, of defining our thoughts
and feelings for ourselves, as well as for those who hear
or read our words. Someone once remarked: "How can I know
what I think till I see what I say?" This sounds stupid,
but there is a great deal of truth in it.
It is hard work choosing the right words,
but we shall be rewarded by the satisfaction that finding
them brings. The exact use of language gives us mastery
over the material we are dealing with. Perhaps you have
been asked "What sort of a man is so-and-so?" You begin:
"Oh, I think he's quite a nice chap but he's rather..."
and then you hesitate trying to find a word or phrase to
express what it is about him that you don't like, that constitutes
his limitation. When you find the right phrase you feel
that your conception of the man is clearer and sharper.
In certain primitive tribes it was thought
dangerous to reveal your name to a stranger. It might give
him power over you. Even in modern civilized society you
find yourself at a slight social disadvantage if someone
knows your name but you don't know his. Command of words
is ultimately command over life and experience.
(447 words)
1.
The author uses the idiom "hit the nail on the head" to
demonstrate ______.( D
)
(a) the skill of a carpenter
(b) the importance of being skillful
(c) how one's point can be driven home
(d) the importance for a writer to choose the right word
2.
The word "scrupulous" in paragraph two means ________.
(
A
)
(a) minutely careful
(b) highly skillful
(c) very accomplished
(d) carpenter-like
3.
To find an appropriate word for the specified purpose ________.
(
D
)
(a) is a matter of command of the specific language only
(b) is a matter of vocabulary
(c) is to pick out a word with subtle meaning
(d) involves telling people your thoughts and feelings
4.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
(
C
)
(a) Choosing a right word for the right situation is challenging
and rewarding.
(b) Choosing a right word means weighing among its many
synonyms.
(c) You need to have a clear idea of the thing you are describing
to choose the right word.
(d) The different shades of meaning are helpful to our expression
of ideas.
5.
It can be inferred that the paragraph that follows the passage
may possibly discuss ______. (
B
)
(a) a carpenter's work
(b) choice of words
(c) modern civilized society
(d) primitive tribes
TOP
Passage
Two
English has a wide vocabulary and it is
a very flexible language. There are many different ways
of making a statement. But words that are very similar in
meaning have fine shades of difference and a student needs
to be alive to these differences. By using his dictionary,
and above all by reading, a student can increase his sensitivity
to these shades of difference and improve his ability to
express his own meanings exactly.
Professor Raleigh once stated: "There are
no synonyms, and the same statement can never be repeated
in a changed form of words." This is perhaps too absolute,
but it is not easy to disapprove. Even a slight alteration
in the wording of a statement can subtly shift the meaning.
The change in words is a change in style, and the effect
on the reader is quite different. It is perhaps easier to
be a good craftsman with wood and nails than a good craftsman
with words, but all of us can increase our skill and sensitivity
with a little effort and patience. In this way we shall
not only improve our writing, but also our reading.
Above all we should try to cultivate an
interest in words. The study of words, of their origins
and shifting meanings, can tell us a great deal about human
life and thought. English offers a fascinating variety of
words for many activities and interests.
The foreign student of English may be discouraged
and dismayed when he learns that there are over 400 000
words in the English language, without counting slang. But
let him take courage. More than half of these words are
dead. Even Shakespeare used a vocabulary of only some 20 000 words. The average Englishman today probably has a vocabulary
range of from 12 000 to 13 000 words. It is good to make
your vocabulary as complete as you can, but a great deal
can be said and written with a vocabulary of no more than
10 000 words. The important thing is to have a good control
and command over the words you do know. Better know two
words exactly than three vaguely. A good carpenter is not
distinguished by the number of his tools, but by the craftsmanship
with which he uses them. So a good writer is not measured
by the extent of his vocabulary, but by his skill in finding
the word that will hit the nail cleanly on the head.
(405 words)
6.
In this passage, the author tells us that reading can ______. (
B
)
(a) increase the vocabulary enormously
(b) make one become more aware of the subtle differences
of synonyms
(c) enable one to learn as many synonyms as possible
(d) enable one to be flexible in expressions
7.
Professor Raleigh's statement "There are no synonyms..."
______. (
A
)
(a) stresses the different shades of meanings
(b) is too absolute and easy to disapprove
(c) is what the author tries to disapprove
(d) means that there is no such word "synonym"
8.
According to the author, an interest in words should be
cultivated because _____. (
C
)
(a) it is more difficult to be expert at words than at nails
(b) words are the most fascinating things to observe
(c) words offer us a lot of information about human activities
(d) words are the most important part of a language
9.
The author thinks that ______. (
B
)
(a) Shakespeare had a very small vocabulary
(b) Shakespeare used only a small portion of the English
vocabulary
(c) it's not necessary to enlarge your vocabulary
(d) it's reasonable to feel discouraged at the large amount
of vocabulary in English
10.
In the author's opinion, the most important thing is to
______. (
D
)
(a) have a large vocabulary to write and speak with
(b) have at least a vocabulary of 10 000
(c) use the words you already know
(d) know how to find the right word
TOP
Passage
Three
Language is often irrational even in the
way it combines words into sentences—in its synthesis.
If language were perfectly rational in this respect, we
should be able to handle words like the nine digits in arithmetic,
and combine them into sentences at pleasure by applying
a few simple grammatical rules. In practice, however, we
find that a great part of all languages consists of a limited
number of natural sentences, only some of which admit of
being formed a priori and freely modified by the substitution
of the other words, as when from "have", "ink",
"pen", we
make up such sentences as "I have the ink"; "Who has the
pen?" "Who has the ink?" "He has the ink," and so on.
But just as we cannot go on speaking long
without using irregular inflections, so also we cannot go
on speaking naturally for any length of time without using
irregular combinations of words—combinations which cannot
be constructed a priori. The sentences which make up natural
speech are of two kinds—general sentences, such as those
which have just been given, and special sentences or idioms,
such as "how do you do?" "never mind", which are really
on a level with simple words, such as salutation, indifference,
and like them, have to be learnt one by one, in the same
way as the irregularities of the grammar. Many of them,
indeed, have meanings inconsistent with those of the words
of which they are made up. Thus "do by itself" never has
the meaning it has in "how do you do?" and "help" in the
idiomatic expression "I could not help being late" has the
meaning "prevent" "avoid", which is the exact contrary of
its ordinary meaning.
Again, even in those cases in which the
grammar and dictionary allow us to express an idea by various
combinations of words, there is often only one of these
combinations in actual use. Those who have had to do Latin
prose composition know that the main difficulty of the art
consists in having an instinctive knowledge of what combinations
to avoid. French has a similar character. English and Greek
are much freer in this respect, a fact which many foreigners
find it difficult to realize. When they ask me such questions
as "Can one speak of an ‘elegant supper’?" "Can you say,
'He was bad last night'?" I always answer that English is
a free language, and that there is nothing to prevent any
one calling a supper "elegant" although I do not remember
ever doing so myself. Nevertheless, English has its limitations
as well as other languages. Foreigners' English often presents
the curious spectacle of a language constructed on strict
grammatical principles, but with hardly a single genuinely
English sentence in it.
(464 words)
11.
Language is irrational in that _______.(
D
)
(a) we can combine words by using simple grammatical rules
(b) words in a language are like the nine digits in arithmetic
(c) the meaning of a sentence can be inferred from the meanings
of the words in it
(d) the meaning of a sentence does not always conform to
the meaning of the words in it
12.
According to the author, ________. (
B
)
(a) all languages have a limited number of natural sentences
(b) not all the sentences in a language can be modified
by substituting different words
(c) regular combinations of words should be avoided
in our speech
(d) we should construct a priori before we combine words
into sentences
13.
Which of the following is true? (
B
)
(a) Grammatically correct sentences are definitely
correct.
(b) Grammatically correct sentences are not necessarily
used in practice.
(c) A sentence based on grammar should be idiomatic.
(d) A sentence in practical use must be rational.
14.
The author thinks it ______ to call a supper "elegant".
(
A
)
(a) not idiomatic
(b) impossible
(c) wise
(d) good English
15.
The main idea of the passage is that ____________. (
A
)
(a) we cannot speak by strict grammatical rules
(b) no rule but has exceptions
(c) there are two kinds of sentences in a language
(d) language has strict grammatical rules to follow
TOP
测验结果：15 题中 共答对题，
答错题， 还有题未答。
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