Why do you keep silent when speaking to?

Do you know what really troubles me? For some reason, words with silent letters have always bothered me. For example, consider these words: know, design, island, school, wrist, naughty, and salmon. All of these words have at least one letter that is not typically pronounced, and these words are just a very small part of words with silent letters in them.

   Some words are even worse, consider this word: colonel. Not only are some letters not pronounced, but letters that are not even there are pronounced.

   Even foreign languages, especially French, are guilty of this needless complexity and confusion. I know there must be some main historical reasons why the words are spelled and pronounced the way they are, but that does not mean bad traditions must continue to survive. Especially if they are no longer logical.

   Unfortunately, there is very little that anyone can do for it, because there’s no group of people who can change or have the right to change the English language for everyone. However, the only thing we can do is make changes in the way we talk and write in hopes that it catches on. For example, I pronounce the letter “l” in salmon on purpose to make people annoyed and to sound more different or complicated. I even pronounce colonel the correct or French way.

   I can only hope these two minor changes to the English language make sense to you, and you will help to keep up these minor changes forever in your everyday life.

We can learn from the passage ________.

   A. colonel is pronounced   

B. salmon is pronounced

   C. all the words with silent letters come from French

   D. linguists will solve the problem of dumb letters

Which of the following is the main reason for silent letters?

   A. French language.   B. Historical reasons.  C. Some linguists  D. Bad traditions.

The underlined phrase “catches on” probably means “________”.

   A. becomes popular   B. gets across   C. follows the fashion  D. doesn’t fall behind

Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

   A. Troubles in everyday life            B. Traps in English words

   C. Words with silent letters            D. Necessary changes of languages

Do you know what kind of things the young people are reading? More and more  36  and parents have noticed another kind of pollution, which comes from the printed papers  37  on streets.

　　These printed things 38  newspapers but have hardly anything to do with 39 . You can only find reading materials badly made up there---some are too strange for anyone to 40 ,  others are frightening stories of something  41  .However, many of the young readers are getting interested in such  42  reading, which  43  them what they should pay for their breakfast and brings them nightmares（噩梦）and immoral（邪恶）ideas in  44 .  Homework is left  45 ,  and daily games are lost.

　　These sellers shout on streets selling their papers well. The writers, publishers and printers,  46  they are, we never know,  are  47  their silent money.

The sheep-skinned wolf's story seems to have been forgotten once again .Why not 48  this kind of thing? Yes, both teachers and parents have asked each other for more strict control of the young readers.  49  ,the more you want to forbid it, the more they want to have a look at it.  50  you may even find  several children, driven by the curious natures,  51  one patched paper,  which has travelled from hand to hand.

　　It really does 52  to our society. It has already formed a sort of moral pollution. The  53  teachers and parents need more powerful support in their protection of the young generation. At the same time the young  54  need more interesting books to help them  55  those ugly papers.

A. teachers　　     B. writers　　  C. readers　　　   D. students

A. found　　　     B. sold　　　　C. printed　　　   D. put

A. depend on　     B. work out　　 C. look like　　   D. act as

A. it　　           B. them       C. children　　    D. young people

A. understand　     B. think　　　  C. believe　　    D. know

A. more important    B. still worse　 C. even better     D. very good

A. poisonous　　    B. wonderful　　C. interesting　   D. useful

A. takes　　　　    B. spends　　　 C. pays          D. costs

A. use　　　　      B. sight　　　　C. common　　   D. return

A. undone　　　     B. unknown　　C. much　　　　  D. less

A. who　　　　     B. what　　　　 C. whoever　　　 D. whatever

A. using　　　      B. making　     C. spending　　   D. wasting

A. stop　　　　     B. forbid        C. separate　　　  D. leave

A. Happily　　      B. Luckily       C. Unfortunately   D. Badly

A. Seldom　　　    B. Always       C. Hardly　　　  D. Sometimes

A. take　　　　     B. share         C. get　　       D. hold

A. harm　　　　    B. good         C. favor　　　　 D. wrong

A. worried　　　    B. puzzled       C. surprised　　  D. disappointed

A. writers　　　     B. teachers      C. parents　　　  D. readers

A. get off　　　     B. come into     C. break down　  D. get rid of

Do you know what kind of things the young people are reading? More and more  36  and parents have noticed another kind of pollution, which comes from the printed papers  37  on streets.
　　These printed things 38  newspapers but have hardly anything to do with 39 . You can only find reading materials badly made up there---some are too strange for anyone to 40 ,  others are frightening stories of something  41  .However, many of the young readers are getting interested in such  42  reading, which  43 them what they should pay for their breakfast and brings them nightmares（噩梦）and immoral（邪恶）ideas in  44 .  Homework is left  45 ,  and daily games are lost.
　　These sellers shout on streets selling their papers well. The writers, publishers and printers,  46  they are, we never know,  are  47 their silent money.
The sheep-skinned wolf’s story seems to have been forgotten once again .Why not 48 this kind of thing? Yes, both teachers and parents have asked each other for more strict control of the young readers.  49  ,the more you want to forbid it, the more they want to have a look at it. 50  you may even find  several children, driven by the curious natures,  51  one patched paper,  which has travelled from hand to hand.
　　It really does 52  to our society. It has already formed a sort of moral pollution. The  53  teachers and parents need more powerful support in their protection of the young generation. At the same time the young 54  need more interesting books to help them  55  those ugly papers.

Do you know what kind of things the young people are reading. More and more 26  and parents have noticed another kind of pollution, which came from the printed papers  27  on streets.
These printed things 28    newspapers but have hardly anything to do with  29  , you can only find reading materials badly made up these—— some are too strange for anyone to 30  ; others are frightening stories of something still worse. However, many of the young readers are getting interested in such   31   reading, which 32   them what they should pay for their breakfast and brings them nightmares(恶梦)and immoral(邪恶的)ideas in return. Homework was left   33  ; daily games lost.
These sellers shout on streets selling their papers well. The writers, publishers and printers, whoever they are, we never know, are  34 their silent money.
The sheep - skinned wolf's story seems to have been forgotten once again. Why not 35  this kind of thing. Yes, both teachers and parents have asked each other for more strict control of the young readers.   36    , the more you want to forbid it, the more they want to have a look at it. Sometimes you may even find out several children, driven by the curious natures,   37  one patched paper, which has traveled from hand to hand.
It really does   38   to our society. It has already formed a sort of moral pollution. The  39  teachers and parents need more powerful support in their protection of the young generation. At the same time the young readers need more interesting books to help them   40   those ugly papers.