单选题 How men first learned to invent words is unknown; in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters, we call words.
The power of words, then, lies in their associations—the things they bring up before our minds. Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary (文字的) style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words, lie can convey his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should therefore learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they will make our speech silly and rude.
单选题 The origin of language ______.
  • A. is a legend handed down from the past
  • B. is reflected in sounds and letters
  • C. dates back to the prehistoric period
  • D. is a problem not yet solved
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。 文章第一段第一句指出，我们还不知道人们第一次是怎样创造单词的，换句话说，语言的来源仍是个谜(the origin of language is a mystery)，还没有得到解决。故选D。
单选题 One of the reasons why men invented certain sounds to express thoughts and actions is that ______.
  • A. they could agree upon certain signs
  • B. they could write them down
  • C. they could communicate with each other
  • D. they could combine them
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。 文章第一段第二句指出，人们创造某些声音来表达自己的思想感情、行动和事物，目的是他们可以互相交流。故选C。
单选题 What is true about words?
  • A. They are used to express feelings only.
  • B. They can not be written down.
  • C. They are represented either by sounds or letters.
  • D. They are visual letters.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节题。 文章第一段讲到，人类起初用某种声音进行交流，后来又有了字母，字母结合起来可以代表声音，也可以写下来。因此这些说出来的声音也好，用字母写出来的声音也好，都被我们称为words。故选C。
单选题 The real power of words exists in their ______.
  • A. accuracy
  • B. beauty
  • C. charm
  • D. representative function
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 推理判断题。 由文章第二段第一句“The power of words, then, lies in their associations—the things they bring up before our minds.”可知，words的魅力在于它的描述功能(representative function)。