Although English is not as old as Chinese, it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always making up new words, and we are often able to know where most come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called “hamburgers”, especially when they are not made with ham(火腿)? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They didn’t speak good English, but they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating round pieces of beef, they asked the Germans what they were. The Germans didn’t understand the question and answered, “We come from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of bread with beef in them and started selling them. Such bread came to be called “hamburgers”. Today, “Hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. This reason, for most English words, can be found in any large English dictionary.
【小题1】English is spoken by many people around the world every day, but English is ______.

Although English is not as old as Chinese, it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always making up new words, and we are often able to know where most come from.
Sometimes, however, no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called “hamburgers”, especially when they are not made with ham(火腿)? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They didn’t speak good English, but they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating round pieces of beef, they asked the Germans what they were. The Germans didn’t understand the question and answered, “We come from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of bread with beef in them and started selling them. Such bread came to be called “hamburgers”. Today, “Hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.
Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. This reason, for most English words, can be found in any large English dictionary

1. 1.

   English is spoken by many people around the world every day, but English is ______

   1. A.
      as old as Chinese
   2. B.
      older than Chinese
   3. C.
      younger than Chinese
   4. D.
      older than German
2. 2.

   Hamburg is ______

   1. A.
      a kind of food
   2. B.
      a round piece of beef
   3. C.
      the name of a country
   4. D.
      a city in Germany
3. 3.

   According to the story, the word “hamburger” comes from ______

   1. A.
      English speakers because they’re always making up new words
   2. B.
      the round piece of beef which those people from Hamburg ate
   3. C.
      English because Germans don’t speak good English
   4. D.
      a large English dictionary
4. 4.

   Which of the following is TRUE?

   1. A.
      Few Americans like hamburgers
   2. B.
      Hamburgers are made with ham
   3. C.
      Hamburgers were first sold a century ago
   4. D.
      Hamburgers were some people
5. 5.

   Which of the following can be found in any large dictionary?

   1. A.
      Where Germans came from
   2. B.
      Where all the new words came from
   3. C.
      The reason why a new word has a certain meaning
   4. D.
      Why English is spoken all over the world

When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence “How do you do?” as an example. If you looked up each word in the dictionary, once at a time, what is your translation （翻译）? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.
Languages do not just have different sounds; they are different in many ways. Its important to master（掌握）the rules for word order in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can’t understand his sentence easily. Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes the order is changed, but the meaning of the sentence doesn’t change. Let’s see the different between the two parts of sentences.
“She only likes apples.” “Only she likes apples.”
“I have seen the film already.” “I have already seen the film.”
When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit（精神实质） of the language and use it as the English speaker does

1. 1.

   From the passage we know that __________when we are learning English

   1. A.
      we shouldn’t put every word into our own language
   2. B.
      we should look up every word in the dictionary
   3. C.
      we need to put every word into our own language
   4. D.
      we must read word by word
2. 2.

   The writer thinks it is ________ in learning English

   1. A.
      difficult to understand different sounds
   2. B.
      possible to remember the word order
   3. C.
      important to master the rules in different ways
   4. D.
      easy to master the rules for word order
3. 3.

   We can learn from the passage that _________

   1. A.
      the meaning of an English sentence always changes with the order of words
   2. B.
      the order of words can never change the meaning of an English sentence
   3. C.
      sometimes a different order of words has a different meaning
   4. D.
      if the order of words is different, the meaning of the sentence must be different
4. 4.

   “She only likes apples.”____________

   1. A.
      is the same as “Only she likes apples.”
   2. B.
      is different from “Only she likes apples.”
   3. C.
      means “She likes fruit except apples.”
   4. D.
      means “She doesn’t like apples.”
5. 5.

   Which is the best title（题目）for this passage?

   1. A.
      Different orders, different meanings
   2. B.
      How to speak English
   3. C.
      How to put English into our own language
   4. D.
      How to learn English