Mouse potatoes joined couch potatoes (who spend much time watching TV on the couch), google officially became a verb and drama queens (extremely emotional persons) finally found the attention when they crossed over from popular culture to mainstream English language.
The mouse potato, the himbo (attractive, empty-headed man) and drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America’s best-selling dictionary, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary《韦氏大词典》. The Internet search engine Google also found its way into the dictionary for the first time as a verb, meaning to find information quickly on the worldwide web.
New words and phrases from the fields of science, technology, pop culture and industry are chosen each year by Merriam-Webster’s team of editors after months of looking through books, magazines and even food labels. “They are not tracking spoken language. They are looking for evidence that words have been used in the written English language,” said Arthur Bicknell, senior editor of Merriam-Webster.
Other words first coming into the dictionary this year were soul patch (a small growth of beard under a man’s lower lip), unibrow (two eyebrows joining together) and supersize - the fast food industry phrase for extra large meals.
The technology world contributed ringtones (changeable incoming cellphone call signals) and spyware (software installed in a computer to track a user’s activities) while biodiesel (生物柴油) and avian influenza(禽流感) came from the world of science.
America’s first dictionary - Noah Webster’s A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language - was published 200 years ago and also introduced some fresh words that have now become familiar. Those “new” words in 1806 included slang, surf, psychology, naturally and Americanize.

1. 1.

   The mouse potato refers to ____________.

   1. A.
      a mouse that lives by potatoes
   2. B.
      a person who spends much time on the computer
   3. C.
      a mouse that is shown on the screen of the computer
   4. D.
      a person who likes to eat mice and potatoes
2. 2.

   Which group of words and phrases is NOT the fresh words for the dictionary of this   year?  

   1. A.
      mouse potatoes, google, supersize， drama queen.
   2. B.
      himbo, soul patch, unibrow, supersize.
   3. C.
      ringtones, spyware, biodiesel, avian influenza.
   4. D.
      couch potatoes, surf, psychology, Americanize.
3. 3.

   Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?

   1. A.
      New words and phrases were introduced into the dictionary have close relationship with the time.
   2. B.
      New words and phrases chosen by the editors of the dictionary have been used in written English somewhere.
   3. C.
      Some words that are now familiar to us used to be fresh words collected in the dictionary.
   4. D.
      The Merriam-webster Collegiate Dictionary becomes the best-seller because 100 new words are added to it.

Mouse potatoes joined couch potatoes (who spend much time watching TV on the couch), google officially became a verb and drama queens (extremely emotional persons) finally found the attention when they crossed over from popular culture to mainstream English language.
The mouse potato, the himbo (attractive, empty-headed man) and drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America’s best-selling dictionary, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary《韦氏大词典》. The Internet search engine Google also found its way into the dictionary for the first time as a verb, meaning to find information quickly on the worldwide web.
New words and phrases from the fields of science, technology, pop culture and industry are chosen each year by Merriam-Webster’s team of editors after months of looking through books, magazines and even food labels. “They are not tracking spoken language. They are looking for evidence that words have been used in the written English language,” said Arthur Bicknell, senior editor of Merriam-Webster.
Other words first coming into the dictionary this year were soul patch (a small growth of beard under a man’s lower lip), unibrow (two eyebrows joining together) and supersize － the fast food industry phrase for extra large meals.
The technology world contributed ringtones (changeable incoming cellphone call signals) and spyware (software installed in a computer to track a user’s activities) while biodiesel (生物柴油) and avian influenza(禽流感) came from the world of science.
America’s first dictionary － Noah Webster’s A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language － was published 200 years ago and also introduced some fresh words that have now become familiar. Those “new” words in 1806 included slang, surf, psychology, naturally and Americanize.
【小题1】The mouse potato refers to ____________.

Mouse potatoes joined couch potatoes (who spend much time watching TV on the couch), google officially became a verb and drama queens (extremely emotional persons) finally found the attention when they crossed over from popular culture to mainstream English language.

The mouse potato, the himbo (attractive, empty-headed man) and drama queen were among 100 new words added to the 2006 update of America's best-selling dictionary, the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary《韦氏大词典》. The Internet search engine Google also found its way into the dictionary for the first time as a verb, meaning to find information quickly on the world wide web.

New words and phrases from the fields of science, technology, pop culture and industry are chosen each year by Merriam-Webster's team of editors after months of looking through books, magazines and even food labels. "They are not tracking spoken language. They are looking for evidence that words have been used in the written English language," said Arthur Bicknell, senior editor of Merriam-Webster.

Other words first coming into the dictionary this year were soul patch (a small growth of beard under a man's lower lip), unibrow (two eyebrows joining together) and supersize ― the fast food industry phrase for extra large meals.

The technology world contributed ringtones (changeable incoming cellphone call signals) and spyware (software installed in a computer to track a user's activities) while biodiesel (生物柴油) and avian influenza (禽流感) came from the world of science.

America's first dictionary ― Noah Webster's A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language ― was published 200 years ago and also introduced some fresh words that have now become familiar. Those "new" words in 1806 included slang, surf, psychology, naturally and Americanize.

68. The mouse potato refers to_______.

A. a mouse that lives by potatoes

B. a person who spends much time on the computer

C. a mouse that is shown on the screen of the computer

D. a person who likes to eat mice and potatoes

69. Which group of words and phrases is not the fresh words for the dictionary of this year?

A. mouse potatoes, google, drama queen.

B. himbo, soul patch, unibrow, supersize.

C. ringtones, spyware, biodiesel, avian influenza.

D. couch potatoes, surf, psychology, Americanize.

70. Which of the following statements is not true according to the text?

A. New words and phrases were introduced into the dictionary have close relationship with the time.

B. New words and phrases chosen by the editors of the dictionary have been used in written English somewhere.

C. Some words that are now familiar to us used to be fresh words collected in the dictionary.

D. The Merriam-webster Collegiate Dictionary becomes the best-seller because 100 new words are added to it.

71. The text is mainly about that _____.

A. 100 fresh words are added to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary

B. English words change their meaning with the time passing by

C. English language is becoming more and more difficult to learn

D. the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary will leave out some old words and introduce some new ones.

Pets are no strangers to the White House. Many of American Presidents have been animal lovers. In recent times, White House pets have been tame dogs and cats. Long ago, however, presidential pets, like our nation itself, were wilder!

In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson lived in the White House. Passers-by often caught sight of his pet bears. Explorers had discovered these fierce bears, caught a pair of small ones, and sent them to Jefferson. While the President was excited about his bears, his enemies in Congress constantly laughed at his pets, calling the White House “The President’s Bear Garden”

By 1825, the bears were long gone from the White House scene. Now, the building was home to President John Quincy Adams and his crocodile. The green beast actually belonged to General Lafayette, a French hero who had helped the United States win the Revolutionary War. When Lafayette asked Adams to keep the crocodile for him, the President couldn’t refuse. While President Adams babysat the huge crocodile, First Lady Louisa Adams was busy raising thousands of silkworms. She used the silk from the silkworms to make cloth for her dresses.

When President Martin Van Buren moved into the White House in 1837, he brought his tigers with him. At first, Van Buren said the tigers were his. The Sultan of Oman had sent the tigers when Van Buren was elected, so Congress argued that the tigers belonged to the American people. A fight over the tigers continued for months. In the end, Congress sent someone to seize the tigers and put them in a zoo.

Twenty years later, President James Buchanan received another valuable gift when he was in his first year in the White House. This time, the King of Siam sent several elephants! Buchanan had no desire to share his building with the big creatures, so he sent them to the zoo. Buchanan did, however, keep another gift—a pair of birds. They were a fitting symbol of presidential power.

1．How did the Presidents mentioned get their unusual pets?

A．The pets were given to them by others.  B．They bought them at the market

       C．They got them in the forest.             D．Their family members offered them the pets

2．What similar political effect did Jefferson’s bears and Van Buren’s tigers have?

       A．The pets made them happy and gay.

       B．It took them too much time to look after them.

       C．It brought about dissatisfaction with them in Congress.

       D．It made people believe that they were animal lovers.

3．According to the passage, we can infer that ________.

       A．the pets the Presidents raised were all huge ones

       B．the pets the Presidents owned were all their favorite ones

       C．the Presidents kept the pets not only at home but in the zoo

       D．the Presidents’ pets were not only cared about by their families

4． The passage mainly tells us _______

       A．The president’s bear garden           B．Historical American presidents’ pets

       C．The White House as a zoo              D．American presidents’ favorites