It's not a new phenomenon, but have you noticed how many nouns are being used as verbs? We all use them, often without noticing what we're doing.
I was arranging to meet someone for dinner last week, and I said “I’ll pencil it in my diary”, but my friend said “You can ink it in”, meaning that it was a firm arrangement not a tentative one!
Many of these new verbs are linked to new technology. An obvious example is the word fax. We all got used to sending and receiving faxes, and then soon started talking about faxing something and promising we'd fax it immediately. Then along came email and we were soon all emailing each other madly. How did we live without it? I can hardly imagine life without my daily emails.
Email reminds me, of course, of my computer and its software, which has produced another couple of new verbs. On my computer I can bookmark those pages from the World Wide Web that I think I'll want to look at again, thus saving all the effort of remembering their addresses and calling them up from scratch. I can do the same thing on my PC, but there I don't bookmark; I favorite—coming from “favorite pages”, so the verb comes from an adjective not a noun.
Now my children bought me a mobile phone, known simply as a mobile and I had to learn yet more new verbs. I can message someone, that is, I can leave a message for them on their phone. Or I can text them, write a few words suggesting when and where to meet, for example. How long will it be before I can mobile them, that is, phone them using my mobile? I haven’t heard that verb yet, but I’m sure I will soon. Perhaps I’ ll start using it myself!
1.“I’ll pencil it in my diary” in the second paragraph probably means “____________”.
A. it was a firm arrangement
B. he prefers a pencil to a pen
C. the arrangement should be written as a diary
D. it was an uncertain arrangement
2.A website address can be easily found if it has been ____________.
A. favorited B. messaged C. emailed D. texted
3. Which of the following has not been used as a verb yet?
A. message B. mobile C. email D. fax
4. The best title for this passage is____________.
A. How to use verbs
B. Development of the English language
C. Origins of verbs
D. New Verbs from Nouns
Proudly reading my words, I glanced around the room, only to find my classmates bearing big smiles on their faces and tears in their eyes. Confused, I glanced toward my stone-faced teacher. Having no choice, I slowly raised the report I had slaved over, hoping to hide myself. “What could be causing everyone to act this way?”
Quickly, I flashed back to the day Miss Lancelot gave me the task. This was the first real task I received in my new school. It seemed simple: go on the Internet and find information about a man named George Washington. Since my idea of history came from an ancient teacher in my home country, I had never heard of that name before. As I searched the name of this fellow, it became evident that there were two people bearing the same name who looked completely different! One invented hundreds of uses for peanuts, while the other led some sort of army across America. I stared at the screen, wondering which one my teacher meant. I called my grandfather for a golden piece of advice: flip (掷) a coin. Heads—the commander, and tails—the peanuts guy. Ah! Tails, my report would be about the great man who invented peanut butter, George Washington Carver.
Weeks later, standing before this unfriendly mass, I was totally lost. Oh well, I lowered the paper and sat down at my desk, burning to find out what I had done wrong. As a classmate began his report, it all became clear, “My report is on George Washington, the man who started the American Revolution.” The whole world became quiet! How could I know that she meant that George Washington?
Obviously, my grade was awful. Heartbroken but fearless, I decided to turn this around. I talked to Miss Lancelot, but she insisted: No re-dos; no new grade. I felt that the punishment was not justified, and I believed I deserved a second chance. Consequently, I threw myself heartily into my work for the rest of the school year. Ten months later, that chance unfolded as I found myself sitting in the headmaster’s office with my grandfather, now having an entirely different conversation. I smiled and flashed back to the embarrassing moment at the beginning of the year as the headmaster informed me of my option to skip the sixth grade. Justice is sweet!
1.What did the author’s classmates think about his report?
A. Controversial. B. Ridiculous.
C. Boring. D. Puzzling.
2.Why was the author confused about the task?
A. He was unfamiliar with American history.
B. He followed the advice and flipped a coin.
C. He forgot his teacher’s instruction.
D. He didn’t know why the teacher gave such a task.
3.The underlined word “burning” in Para. 3 probably means _______.
A. annoyed B. ashamed
C. ready D. eager
4.In the end, the author turned things around _______.
A. by redoing his task
B. through his own efforts
C. with the help of his grandfather
D. under the guidance of his headmaster
I work as a postal letter carrier in Charlotte. One day several years ago, I drove up to a 1 . Christy, the young divorcee (离了婚的人) who lived there, was waiting by the roadside. She said that she had a 2 to tell me.
About six months 3 it seemed that I had 4 a letter to her which had her street 5 on it but was addressed to another house with the 6 number on a different street in the neighborhood. She decided to 7 the letter at the correct house.
It turned out that the letter had been 8 for Johnson, who happened to be 9 . They talked for a little while, and later on he 10 . Then they started dating and had been going 11 together ever since.
I felt sorry for delivering the letter wrong, but I was 12 that I had brought these nice people together.
A few months later a(n) 13 sign went up in Christy’s yard, and then wedding 14 were sent out. Soon the house was sold, the wedding happened, 15 Christy, with her kids, moved into Johnson’s house.
A few months later, I saw a For Sale sign in 16 yard. I feared the 17 might be in trouble, so I made up a(n) 18 to go to their door and 19 on them.
Christy opened the door, smiled broadly, and pointed to her huge stomach “We’re having twins!” she said, “This house won’t be big enough, so we have to 20 .”
1.A. telephone B. mailbox C. school D. shop
2.A. story B. notice C. fact D. message
3.A. after B. earlier C. later D. ago
4.A. sent B. written C. delivered D. given
5.A. mark B. sign C. board D. number
6.A. correct B. wrong C. same D. different
7.A. put down B. drop off C. hand out D. give away
8.A. provided B. prepared C. inferred D. intended
9.A. free B. single C. lonely D. simple
10.A. left B. invited C. called D. introduced
11.A. out B. in C. away D. off
12.A. amazed B. pleased C. surprised D. interested
13.A. Sale B. Sales C. On Sale D. For Sale
14.A. arrangements B. preparations C. invitations D. announcements
15.A. but B. and C. while D. until
16.A. her B. his C. my D. their
17.A. friendship B. connection C. marriage D. wedding
18.A. apology B. trouble C. excuse D. regret
19.A. check B. examine C. test D. try
20.A. change B. settle C. separate D. move
The children, _____ had played the whole day long, were worn out.
A. all of what B. all of them
C. all of whom D. all of which
——Excuse me, but could I trouble you for some change?
——______. Will pennies do?
A. I know B. Let me see
C. I am sure D. Never mind
The accident caused some _____ to my car, but it’s nothing serious.
A. harm B. injury C. ruin D. damage
