大学英语六级阅读精练之语言趣话 四六级学习

小编为备考的同学们整理了精练，希望可以为大家带来帮助，一起来学习一下吧。

thetreeoflanguage

aworldwithoutlanguage

itmaybethatwhentheworldwasyoung,nooneknewhowtotalk.peoplehadtolearntospeakjustlikebabiesdo.whennooneknewhowtotell,howdidanyonelearn?thatisamysterythatremainsunsolvedeventoday.

thestoriesbehindwords

lunchlunchperhapscomesfromanoldspanishwordlonje,aslabof1ham.wemaygetourwordfromalumpofbread,butwhetherlunchcomesfromhamorbread,itmeantahunkofsomethingtoeat.

atlasanatlasisastrongman,andalsoabookofmaps.thestoryofthiswordbeginsalongtimeagoingreece.theancientgreeksbelievedthattheirgodshadoncebeenaraceofgiants2calledtitans.thetitansfoughtwithanothergroupofgodscalledolympians,andtheolympianswon.atlaswasatitan.hewaspunishedforfightingbehavingtostandatthewesternendoftheworld,holdingtheskyonhisheadandhands,sothatitwouldnotfallontheworldandsmasheverything.aftertheancientgreekreligiondiedout,theideaofatlaschanged.fromholdinguptheskywithhisheadandhands,hecametobethoughtofasholdingtheworldonhisshoulders.mercator3,amapmakerofthesixteenthcentury,usedapictureofatlasonthecoverofabookofmaps,soabookofmapscametobecalledanatlas.thewordhasstillanothermeaning.thetopboneoftheneckiscalledatlasbecauseitsupportsthehead.

good-byeorgood-bygood-byeisablessing;originallyitwasgodbewithye,andinthecourseoftimeitbecameoneword.manyofourgreetingsaregoodwishes,butwesaythemwithsolittlethoughtthatweforgetthis.whenwesaygoodmorning,goodevening,goodnight,andsoon,whatwearereallysayingis,ihopeyouwillhaveagoodmorning(orevening,ornight)."

daisythedaisyhasalittlegoldeneye,likeatinysun.perhapsthisisthereasontheenglishpeoplenameditday’seye,orperhapstheychosethenamebecausetheenglishdaisyclosesatnight.theenglishlovedtheirdaisies,whichwerepinkandred,aswellas028white.sixhundredyearsorsoago,theenglishpoetchaucer4said:thedaisy,orelsetheeyeoftheday,//thequeen,andprettiestflowerofall

阅读自测

Ⅰ.accordingtothepassage,findthecorrectmeaningsofthewordsunderlined:

1.withanatlas,tomcanfindtheplacehewantstogoeasily.

a.astrongmanb.thetopboneoftheneckc.abookofmapsd.anameofgod

2.whenyousaygood-byetoyourfriend,whatdoyoureallymean?

a.neverseehim/heragainb.agoodwishtoexpressthatgodbewithhim/herc.goodluckd.breakupwithhim/her

3.afteralongvacation,helooksasfreshasadaisylikebefore.

a.lookliketheflowerb.akindofdrinkc.afirst-classmand.vigorousandlively

Ⅱ.question:

afterreadingthispassage,whatcanyouinferfromthestoriesofthewords?