2018年01月28日缪老师的初中英语平行组卷(1)(2)

about natural history．The books were a great success even though some critics（批评家）did not like them．

Thomas Jefferson did not like what Comte de Buffon had said about the natural wonders（奇观）of the New World．It seemed to Jefferson that Comte de Buffon had spoken of natural wonders in America as if（好像）they were unimportant． This troubled Thomas Jefferson．He was also a naturalist，as well as a farmer，an inventor，a historian，a writer and a politician（政治家）．He had seen the natural wonders of Europe．To him，they were no more important than those of the New World．

In 1788，Thomas Jefferson wrote about his home state，Virginia．While writing，he thought of its natural beauty and then of the words of Comte de Buffon．At that moment，Jefferson created a new word﹣belittle．He said，\that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic（大西洋）．\ Noah Webster，the American word expert，liked this word．He put it in the English language dictionary in 1806，\﹣to make small，unimportant．\

Americans had already accepted Jefferson's word and started to use it．In 1797，the Independent Chronicle（独立纪事报）used the word to describe a politician the paper supported．\，\，\try to belittle him as much as they please．\

In 1872，a famous American word expert decided that the time had come to kill this word．He said，\shouldn't become English．And more critical writers of America，like those of Britain，feel no need of it．\

This expert failed to kill the word．Today，belittle is used where the English language is spoken．

53．Thomas Jefferson was NOT a ．

A．naturalist B．historian C．politician D．musician 54．We can infer（推断）that Jefferson created the word\ ． A．anger B．excitement C．kindness D．responsibility 55．What can we know about the word\？

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A．It has already disappeared from the English language．

B．It had been used before it was put in the English language dictionary． C．It is used to describe natural wonders now．

D．An American politician decided to kill this word in 1872． 56．What's the passage mainly about？ A．How the word\． B．The argument about natural wonders． C．Every word has a long history behind． D．Noah Webster supported Jefferson's idea． …… 此处隐藏：139字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……