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  3. In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized

In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized

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问题     In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being "tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics." Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones). The meaning of the verb tantalize is a very particular one: "to promise or show something desirable to a person and then take it away; to tease by arousing hope." Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word’s origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning. For tantalize the following explanation is given: [> Tantalus]. This means that you should look up the name Tantalus to find out the word’s origins, and if you do, you will find out that in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a king who was punished in the lower world with eternal hunger and thirst; he was put up to his chin in water that always moved away when he tried to drink it and with fruit on branches above him placed just a little bit out of his reach. Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning "to tease or torment by arousing desire"?
    Another example is the word siren, familiar to us as the mechanical device that makes such an alarming sound when police cars, ambulances, or fire engines approach. This word also has its origins in Greek mythology. The traveler Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) made his men plug their ears so that they wouldn’t hear the dangerous voices of the sirens, creatures who were half bird and half woman and who lured sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. So the word came to be associated both with a loud sound and with danger!
    When someone speaks of a "jovial mood" or a "herculean effort", he or she is using words with origins in mythology. Look these words up to find their meaning and relationship to myths.
    Many common words, such as the names for the days of the week and the months of the year, also come from mythology. Wednesday derives from the ancient Norse king of the gods, Woden, and Thursday was originally Thor’s day, in honor of Thor, the god of thunder. As a matter of fact, all the planets, except the one we live on, bear names that come from Roman mythology, including the planet that is farthest away from the sun and for that reason was called after the Roman god of the dead. This god has also given his name to one of the chemical elements. Several other elements have names that come from mythology, too.
    It seems that myths and legends live on in the English language.
The example of tantalize is to show________.
选项 A、how the word came into existence
B、how Tantalus was punished in the lower world
C、how all English dictionaries show word origins
D、how the meaning of the word changed over the years
答案A
解析 本题的关键词是tantalize，问的是tantalize一词的例子是为了论证什么主题，答案线索定位在第一段。根据第一段第七句话可知，作者在第一段阐述的是tantalize词义形成的原因，即tantalize的意思“以唤起欲望(arousing desire)的方式来戏弄或折磨某人(c0 tease or torment)”是出自希腊神话中的一个国王的名字，由此可见，tantalize一词的例子是为了说明这个单词是如何出现的，因此，选项A与原文主题一致。为正确选项。选项B为答非所问，因为第一段第六句话告知Tantalus在地狱受惩罚的方式，是为了表明tantalize一词的含义由来，而并不是tantalize这一例子的目的。选项C也为答非所问，因为从第一段第五句话可知，tantalize的词源展示方式是[>Tantalus]，但这只是为了给下文引出Tantalus这一神话做铺垫，并不是tantalize这一例子的目的。选项D为无中生有，因为文中没有相关内容表明词义在多年间是如何改变的。
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