2008英语专四阅读真题TEXT B：in an article some chinese答案详解

2008英语专四阅读真题TEXT B：in an article some chinese答案详解

　　TEXT B

　　In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious

　　dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones). The meaning of the verb tantalize is a very particular one: "to promise or show something desirable to a person and then take it away; to tease by arousing hope." Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word's origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning. For tantalize the following explanation is given: [> Tantalus]. This means that you should look up the name Tantalus to find out the word's origins, and if you do, you will find out that in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a king who was punished in the lower world with eternal hunger and thirst; he was put up to his chin in water that always moved away when he tried to drink it and with fruit on branches above him placed just a little bit out of his reach. Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning "to tease or torment by arousing desire"?

　　Another example is the word siren, familiar to us as the mechanical device that makes such

　　an alarming sound when police cars, ambulances, or fire engines approach. This word also has its origins in Greek mythology. The traveler Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) made his men plug their ears so that they wouldn't hear the dangerous voices of the sirens, creatures who were half bird and half woman and who lured sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. So the word came to be associated both with a loud sound and with danger!

　　When someone speaks of a "jovial mood" or a "herculean effort," he or she is using words with origins in mythology. Look these words up to find their meaning and relationship to myths.Many common words, such as the names for the days of the week and the months of the year, also come from mythology. Wednesday derives from the ancient Norse king of the gods, Woden, and Thursday was originally Thor's day, in honour of Thor, the god of thunder. As a matter of fact, all the planets, except the one we live on, bear names that come from Roman mythology,including the planet that is farthest away from the sun and for that reason was called after the Roman god of the dead. This god has also given his name to one of the chemical elements.Several other elements have names that come from mythology, too.It seems that myths and legends live on in the English language.

　　85. The purpose of the first sentence in Paragraph One is ____.

　　A. to describe the work of some Chinese scholars.

　　B. to arouse readers' interest in hieroglyphics.

　　C. to lead readers onto the main theme.

　　D. to link the preceding part to the present one.

　　86. We learn from the passage, all English dictionaries include _____.

　　A. legends. B. mythology.

　　C. word origins. D. word definitions.

　　87. The example of tantalize is to show _____.

　　A. how the word came into existence.

　　B. how Tantalus was punished in the lower world.

　　C. how all English dictionaries show word origins.

　　D. how the meaning of the word changed over the years.

　　88. According to the passage, which of the following does NOT have origins in myths or

　　legends?

　　A. Jovial. B. Wednesday. C. Earth. D. March.

　　89. Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?

　　A. Greek and Roman Mythology in Language.

　　B. Mythological Origins of English Words.

　　C. Historical Changes in Word Meanings.

　　D. Mythology and Common Words.

　　TEXT B

　　◎ 参考译文

　　这是一篇说明文。文章通过举例阐述了英语里的许多单词都来源于神话和传说这一事实。

　　在一篇文章中，中国学者被描述成是“被神秘的龙骨象形文字逗弄的人”。(85) Tantalized(逗弄)是众多来源于过去的神话和传说(如希腊和罗马神话)的英语单词之一。动词Tantalize的意思很特别：“：将某种令人渴望的事物摆在一个人面前然后又把它拿走，从而达到以唤起希望来戏弄他人的目的。” (86) 在许多(并非全部)英语字典里，一个词释义的前面或后面通常有一个括号，括号里简单地给出了这个词的来源。对于Tantalize这个词，字典给出了如下的解释：[> Tantalus]找到。这表示你得找到Tantalus这个名字从而找出Tantalize这个词的根源。如果你这样做的话，你就会发现，在希腊神话里，丹达罗斯(Tantalus)是一位国王，因其犯过罪而被打入阴间并被罚站立在下巴深的水中，当他想去饮水时水即流走，其头上挂有水果，但当他想拿水果时却退开。(87) 现在你能猜到为什么他的名字变成了动词表示“以唤起欲望来戏弄或折磨某人”的意思了吗?

　　另一个例子是siren这个词。我们所熟悉的siren是一种当警车、救护车或消防车靠近时发出警报的机械装置。这个词同样来源于《希腊神话》。旅行者奥德修斯(Odysseus，也就是罗马神话中的尤利西斯(Ulysses))命令他的人塞住自己的耳朵，这样他们就可以听不见塞壬(siren)们危险的歌声了。塞壬是一群半人半鸟的女海妖，用她们美妙的歌声诱惑船员，从而使船只在岛屿周围触礁沉没。因此这个词总是与尖锐的声音和危险联系在一起。

　　(88) 当某人提到“jovial 的情绪”或是“herculean 的努力”时，他或她就用到了自神话中来的单词了。你可以通过查字典找到这些词的意思以及它们与神话的关系。

　　许多常见的单词，如一周的日子和一年的月份的命名同样来自于神话故事。(88) 星期三(Wednesday)起源于众神之一，古代挪威王沃登(Woden)，而星期四(Thursday)最早写作Thor’s day，为纪念雷神托尔(Thor)而以他的名字命名。(88) 事实上，所有的行星，除了我们生活的地球外，都是以罗马神话中神的名字命名的，包括离太阳最远的行星，正因为如此，这颗星是以罗马神话中死神的名字命名的。这位神还用他的名字命名了一种化学元素。许多其它元素的名字同样来自于神话故事。

　　看来神话和传说仍然继续活在英语里。

　　▼ 试题分析

　　85. C)推断题。(Lines 1~2, Para.1) 从第一段的第二句话…Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones).可知Tantalized(逗弄)是众多来源于过去的神话和传说(如希腊和罗马神话)的英语单词之一，这恰与文章的主题相符。

　　86. D) 细节题。(Lines 5~6, Para.1) Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word’s origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning. 在许多(并非全部)英语字典里，一个词释义的前面或后面通常有一个括号，括号里简单地给出了这个词的来源。由此可知，所有的英文字典均提供词语解释，但并非所有的字典都给出了词源，因此A、B、C三个选项是不对的

　　87. A) 推断题。(Lines 7~12, Para.1) This means that… Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning “to tease or torment by arousing desire”? 这表示……现在你能猜到为什么他的名字变成了动词表示“以唤起欲望来戏弄或折磨某人”的意思了吗?据此推断可知，作者以Tantalize为例是为了说明这个词是从哪里来的，恰与文章主题与选项A“说明这个词是如何形成的”说法一致。 而非像D所说是“为了说明词义的变化过程”。

　　88. C) 细节题。(Lines3~4, Para.4) As a matter of fact, all the planets, except the one we live on, bear names that come from Roman mythology,….事实上，所有的行星，除了我们生活的地球外，都是以罗马神话中神的名字命名的，……。A和B选项在文章的第三段和第四段中可以明确地找到答案，而选项D则见第四段的第一句：Many common words, such as the names for the days of the week and the months of the year, also come from mythology. 许多常见的单词，如一周的日子和一年的月份的命名同样来自于神话故事。March是一年中的第三个月，由此可知，它也是从神话中来的。

　　89. B) 主旨题。作者以“tantalize”，“siren”，“jovial mood””，“herculean effort”等词或短语为例，并在第四段第一开始就说许多常见的单词，如一周的日子和一年的月份的命名同样来自于神话故事，由此可推知，作者这样写的目的就是为了说明阐述了英语里的许多单词都来源于神话和传说这一事实。B很好地概括了本文的主题。

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