题目

Many years ago，a French naturalist，Comte de Buffon，wrote some books about natural history. The books were a great success even though some critics (批评家) did not like them. Some critics said，“Comte de Buffon is more of a poet than a scientist.” Thomas Jefferson did not like what Comte de Buffon had said about the natural wonders of the New World. It seemed to Jefferson that Comte de Buffon had spoken of natural wonders in America as if they were unimportant. This troubled Thomas Jefferson. He was also a naturalist，as well as a farmer，an inventor，a historian，a writer and a politi cian. 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 Comte de Buffon. At that moment，Jefferson created a new word—belittle. He said，“Comte 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 the 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 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. 文章讲述了美国总统Thomas Jefferson创造“belittle”这个新词的故事。 5.Why did Thomas Jefferson disagree with Comte de Buffon？ A．Comte de Buffon was more of a poet. B．Comte de Buffon wasn't a true scientist. C．Comte de Buffon was a writer from Europe. D．Comte de Buffon had prejudice against the New World. 6.We can infer that Jefferson created the word “belittle” out of his________. A．anger            B．excitement C．kindness             D．responsibility 7.Which of the following is TRUE of the word“belittle”？ A．It has already disappeared. B．It was created by Thomas  Jefferson. C．It was used to describe nature. D．The Independent Chronicle made it popular. 8.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. 答案：D  A  B  A

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