Question

Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?

Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”.

The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near brook(小溪)；Someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.

Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are: Carter — a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter —a person who made pots and pans.

The ancestors(祖先) of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.

Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.

Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or –son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.

1.Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?

A．Places where people lived.

B．People’s occupations.

C．Talents that people possessed.

D．People’s characters.

2.According to the passage, the ancestors of the Potter family most probably _______.

A．owned or drove a cart

B．made things with metals

C．built houses and furniture

D．made kitchen tools or contains

3.Suppose an English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-born son to become a world leader, the baby might be named _______.

A．Donald Greenwood                      B．Leonard Carter

C．George Longstreet                      D．Beatrice Smith

4.The underlined word “descendants” in the last paragraph means a person’s _______.

A．later sponsors                          B．later generations

C．friends and relatives                     D．colleagues and partners

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.D

2.D

3.A

4.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文講述了西方人名是根據(jù)什么來取名的。比如說，根據(jù)居住的地方來取名的，根據(jù)人們的職業(yè)，根據(jù)人們所擁有的哪方面的才能來取名。

1.根據(jù)文中第四，五，六三段可知ABC選項內(nèi)容均有提到，只有D選項“人物的性格”未提及。

2.文中第六段potter-a person who made pots and pans,可知potter 意為一個制作茶壺和平底鍋的人， pots and pans均是廚房用品，由此推斷選D

3.根據(jù)文中倒數(shù)第二段可知一些人取名是根據(jù)特征而來。比如灰色頭發(fā)的人取名john Gray，高個的人取名john Tallman. 所以根據(jù)題意，居住在森林旁邊的人取名為Donald Greenwood

4.根據(jù)最后一段第一二行“some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. The Johnsons are descendants of John可知descendants指的是后代

考點：文化知識類短文閱讀。

點評：本文講述了西方人名是根據(jù)什么來取名的。本文內(nèi)容比較簡單，集中考查細節(jié)較多，在閱讀時注意關(guān)鍵的細節(jié)內(nèi)容，做好標志，以提高閱讀的效率。答題前一定要讀懂全文，一定要注意體會重要線索，然后帶著問題，再讀全文，找出答題所需要的依據(jù)，完成閱讀。