四六级

　　The Tree Of  Language

　　A World with out Language

　　It may be that when the world was young, no oneknew how to talk. People had to learn to speak justlike babies do. When no one knew how to tell, howdid anyone learn? That is a mystery that remainsunsolved even today.

　　The Stories behind Words

　　LUNCH Lunch perhaps comes from an old Spanish word lonje , a slab of1 ham. We may get ourword from a lump of bread, but whether lunch comes from ham or bread, it meant a hunk ofsomething to eat.

　　ATLAS An Atlas is a strong man, and also a book of maps. The story of this word begins a longtime ago in Greece. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods had once been a race of giants2 called Titans. The Titans fought with another group of gods called Olympians, and theOlympians won. Atlas was a Titan. He was punished for fighting be having to stand at thewestern end of the world, holding the sky on his head and hands, so that it would not fall onthe world and smash everything.

　　After the ancient Greek religion died out, the idea of Atlas changed. From holding up the skywith his head and hands, he came to be thought of as holding the world on his shoulders. Mercator3, a map maker of the sixteenth century, used a picture of Atlas on the cover of abook of maps, so a book of maps came to be called an atlas.

　　The word has still another meaning. The top bone of the neck is called atlas because it supportsthe head.

　　GOOD-BYE or GOOD-BY Good-bye is a blessing; originally it was God be with ye, and in thecourse of time it became one word. Many of our greetings are good wishes, but we say themwith so little thought that we forget this. When we say good morning, good evening, goodnight, and so on, what we are really saying is, “I hope you will have a good morning ( orevening, or night) . ”

　　DAISY The daisy has a little golden eye , like a tiny sun . Perhaps this is the reason the Englishpeople named it day’s eye, or perhaps they chose the name because the English daisy closes atnight. The English loved their daisies, which were pink and red, as well as 028 white. Sixhundred years or so ago, the English poet Chaucer4 said:

　　The daisy, or else the eye of the day, / / The queen, and prettiest flower of all.

　　阅读自测：

　　Ⅰ. According to the passage , find the correct meanings of the words under lined :

　　1. With an atlas, Tom can find the place he wants to go easily.

　　A. a strong man B. the top bone of the neck C. a book of maps D. a name of god

　　2. When you say good-bye to your friend, what do you really mean?

　　A. never see him / her again B. a good wish to express that God be with him / her C. good luckD. break up with him / her

　　3. After a long vacation, he looks as fresh as a daisy like before.

　　A. look like the flower B. a kind of drink C. a first-class man D. vigorous and lively

　　Ⅱ. Question :

　　After reading this passage, what can you infer from the stories of the words?

　　参考答案：

　　Ⅰ. 1. C 2 . B 3 . D

　　Ⅱ. ( 略)