Question

Concepts from science and nature are filled with our language’s common phrases , idioms and spoken expressions. The unbelieving expression “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle” has its origin in bitter disbelief over Darwin’s writings on evolution. These colourful expressions bring spice(趣味) to our language.

Yet certain well-used phrases from science are just plain wrong! Some are obvious, yet we use them anyhow. For example, a person who acutely shakes her head and says “ A watched pot never boils” while you are waiting second after tiring second for test results to arrive or job offers to come in knows that if she sat down and watched a pot containing water on a stove over high heat for long enough, the water will eventually boil.

However, a few phrases have less obvious scientific inaccuracies. Here are a few for you to consider.

Once in a blue moon: This poetic phrase refers to something that occurs extremely rarely. A blue moon is the term commonly used for a second full moon that occasionally appears in a single month of our solar-based calendars. The problem with the phrase, however, is that blue moons are not so rare. They happen every few years at least, and can even happen within months of each other when the 29.5-day lunar cycle puts the full moon at the beginning of any month but February. The usage of “blue moon” as the second full moon in a month dates back to a 1937 Marine Farmer’s Almanac . But before that, blue moons meant something slightly different. Typically, 12 full moons occur from winter solstice to the next winter solstice, but occasionally a fourth full moon in a season could be observed . In such a case, one of the four full moons in that season was known as “blue”

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: The phrase means that if something looks wrong, it likely is wrong. But let’s step back. Do you always have to have fire if you see smoke? Answering that first requires defining ‘fire” , Merriam—Webster’s first definition of fire is “ the phenomenon of combustion manifested in light, flame and heat”. Combustion is the chemical reaction that occurs when fuel is burned in the presence of oxygen---denying a fire any of these three things will stop the fire; attempting to start a fire without any one of the three things will be impossible. In complete combustion---what occurs when you light a gas stove--- the fire produces no smoke. However, when most materials are burned, they have incomplete combustion, which means that the fire isn’t able to completely burn all of the fuel . Smoke, then, can be considered to be a product of pyrolysis (高温分解) rather than of fire itself. You’re probably thinking---so what? To get the smoke, a fire needed to be present at some point, right? Not always.

Diamonds are forever: Thanks to the DeBeers slogan , decorating your honey’s neck, wrists and fingers with diamonds means true and timeless love. Of course, no object that you can hold in your hand can last forever. But diamonds have a special reason for being incapable of timelessness. Without the extreme pressures of the deep Earth where they formed, a diamond will slowly turn back into graphite(石墨), which is why the older a diamond is, the more inclusions it’s likely to have.

What common phrases push your buttons when viewed under the microscope of science? Are you curious about the hidden knowledge of some “ big” phrases ? Or perhaps you have the ability to uncover the secret of some unscientific phrases? Let us know!

1.According to the passage, the blue moon _________.

A. appears at the beginning of a month

B. gains its modern meaning before 1937

C. presents itself quite frequently sometimes

D. can never be seen by people in February

2.What can be concluded from the passage?

A. the older a diamond is, the more valuable it’s likely to be.

B. Fire is not necessarily causing smoke

C. Smoke is a product of complete combustion

D. the less obvious scientific inaccuracies of some phrases make them more useful

3. The underlined phrase “push your buttons” in the last paragraph means “_______”.

A. impress you a lot             B. frighten you much.

C. surprise you greatly          D. make you lose your interest

4. The author’s attitude towards the scientific inaccuracies of the phrases is ________.

A. indifferent      B. objective

C. critical         D. favourable

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.D

【解析】

试题分析：本文为说明文，主要讲述不科学的措词其后面的客观事实。

1.

2.

3.

4.Or perhaps you have the ability to uncover the secret of some unscientific phrases? Let us know!”可知，作者对这种不科学的措词有一种求知的欲望，所以其态度是赞成的。故选D。

【名师点睛】

这里介绍词义猜测和观点态度题。

词义猜测题。此类题型有逐渐增加的趋势，尤其是猜测词组、句义题。命题者着重考查考生利用同义或反义关系、构词法、语法和语篇文脉等理解生词的能力。联系主旨、整合上下文信息是解答这类题的关键。要求猜测词义的词一般为实词及其词组，通过构词、定义、对比、因果、联想、上下文等线索确定词义的具体内容。猜测“push your buttons”，显然不能直接翻译，那么需要结合下面一句“Are you curious about the hidden knowledge of some “ big” phrases ?”中的“curious”来间接理解。

观点态度题。作者的观点和态度除了直接表达外，还经常在文章中间接表达出来。考生可以通过全文的叙述，从文章的主要内容去理解作者的观点；有时作者也会在文章中用特殊词汇表达自己的思想感情。同学们要从文章中的用词、语气或对某个细节的陈述来推断作者的态度、观点等。比如第65题可以从“Or perhaps you have the ability to uncover the secret of some unscientific phrases? Let us know!”这一句中体现出作者一种积极地态度。

考点：考查日常生活类阅读