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Do you know what really troubles me? For some reason, words with silent letters have always bothered me. For example, consider these words: know, design, island, school, wrist, naughty, and salmon. All of these words have at least one letter that is not typically pronounced, and these words are just a very small part of words with silent letters in them.
Some words are even worse, consider this word: colonel. Not only are some letters not pronounced, but letters that are not even there are pronounced.
Even foreign languages, especially French, are guilty of this needless complexity and confusion. I know there must be some main historical reasons why the words are spelled and pronounced the way they are, but that does not mean bad traditions must continue to survive. Especially if they are no longer logical.
Unfortunately, there is very little that anyone can do for it, because there’s no group of people who can change or have the right to change the English language for everyone. However, the only thing we can do is make changes in the way we talk and write in hopes that it catches on. For example, I pronounce the letter “l” in salmon on purpose to make people annoyed and to sound more different or complicated. I even pronounce colonel the correct or French way.
I can only hope these two minor changes to the English language make sense to you, and you will help to keep up these minor changes forever in your everyday life.
1.We can learn from the passage ________.
A. colonel is pronounced
B. salmon is pronounced
C. all the words with silent letters come from French
D. linguists will solve the problem of dumb letters
2.Which of the following is the main reason for silent letters?
A. French language. B. Historical reasons. C. Some linguists D. Bad traditions.
3.The underlined phrase “catches on” probably means “________”.
A. becomes popular B. gets across C. follows the fashion D. doesn’t fall behind
4.Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A. Troubles in everyday life B. Traps in English words
C. Words with silent letters D. Necessary changes of languages
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——Excuse me, but could I trouble you for some change?
——______. Will pennies do?
A. I know B. Let me see
C. I am sure D. Never mind
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-----Excuse me, but could I trouble you for some change?
------_______.Will pennies do?
A. I know B. Never mind
C. I am sure D. Let me see
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-----Excuse me, but could I trouble you for some change?
-----_______.Will pennies do?
A．I know B．Never mind C．I am sure D．Let me see
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-----Excuse me, but could I trouble you for some change?
------_______.Will pennies do?
A.I know B. Never mind C. I am sure D. Let me see
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—Excuse me, but could I trouble you for some change?
—_______. Will pennies do?
A. I know B. Never mind
C. I am sure D. Let me see
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—Excuse me，but could I trouble you for some change?
—________.Will pennies do？ (2013·浙江，20)
A．I know B．Never mind
C．I am sure D．Let me see
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(2013·高考浙江卷)—Excuse me，but could I trouble you for some change?
—________.Will pennies do?
A．I know B．Never mind
C．I am sure D．Let me see
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If, for some reason, you had 2,010 empty plastic bottles, what would you do? You’d probably sell them cheaply, right? But Xia Yu collected 2,010bottles and built a boat with them, As you read this, Xia is, in fact, on a river somewhere in Anhuai, slowly going towards his destination: the Expo Garden in Shanghai．2,010 plastic bottles was to celebrate Expo (世博会) 2010 Shanghai．On the opening day of the Expo, Xia, together with five friends, went on a 1,500 – km journey from Xiangtan to the Expo Garden, in spite of the doubt whether they’ll make it．After all, the boat they are on can hardly be called a boat．It cost only 2,000 yuan to build in a month.
What’s keeping Xia going is a major cause behind the trip．“We are examining water pollution through our journey and trying to promote a low – carbon (低碳) lifestyle．Before we started, no one believed we could sail the boat to the Dongting Lake．But we made it.” But as they expected, the journey has not always been smooth．Of the six from Xiangtan, four gave up．As of the press time (到发稿时), only Xia and his friend Huang Ying were on the boat．Huang suffered from a disease when they reached Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, Xia said, “There are so many things that can stop up from making it to Shanghai, like the weather, health, and sometimes swift rive water.”
“The boat was produced in a factory according to our design, and perhaps it’s not in a very good condition．But,” Xia said, “we are wearing life jackets”．“Some boats passing by offered help.” What is more of a reward for Xia and Huang is that the Yangtze Rive truned out much cleaner than they had expected．Although Xia and Huang are uncertain about the journedy ahead, they are “quite happy” with what they have already achieved．“After all, it’s not the destination that counts．It’s always the course that matters the most.”
1.Xia Yu doubts the success of the journey because of ________.
A．such a 1ong journey on the river
B．the poor boat and the bad weather
C．few people taking part in the journey
D．the seriously polluted river in some parts
2.Which of the following is NOT the purpose of the journey?
A．To examine water pollution．
B．To celebrate Expo 2010 Shanghai.
C．To win a race on the water．
D．To promote a low－carbon lifestyle.
3.From the text we know that________.
A．They stay on the boat at night．
B．Three people gave up due to their bad health.
C．Xia Yu and his mate have arrived in Shanghai
D．Huang suffered from a disease on the journey.
4.The last paragraph tells us Xia Yu and Huang Ying ________.
A．pay more attention to the process.
B．are sure to arrive at the destination.
C．helped turn the Yangtze River cleaner.
D．are happy because of their final success.
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—I really don't know what I ________yesterday without the bike you lent me.
—Glad to have been some help to you.
| A．could do | B．should have done |
| C．had done | D．could have done |
A. colonel is pronounced