首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Allan Metcalf s new book claims that the word "OK" is America’s greatest invention. This offers a pair of provocations. How can
Allan Metcalf s new book claims that the word "OK" is America’s greatest invention. This offers a pair of provocations. How can
admin
2014-01-07
134
问题
Allan Metcalf s new book claims that the word "OK" is America’s greatest invention. This offers a pair of provocations. How can "OK" be an invention? On a certain day, a certain guy just dreamed up the expression that has become the most frequently spoken word on the planet? And even if it is an invention, can one little word really be greater than jazz, baseball, and the telephone? Is it better than The Simpsons?
The answer to the first question, implausible as it sounds, is yes. In OK: The Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word, Metcalf locates the first use of OK in an obscure corner of a Boston newspaper on March 23, 1839. As for the alleged greatness of the word, Metcalf s slim volume doesn’t entirely persuade you that OK is a more valuable invention than, say, electric light. But the fact that he even raises the question is intriguing. If it does nothing else, Metcalf makes you acutely aware of how universal and vital the word has become.
True story: the world’s most popular word began as a joke. In the late 1830s, America’s newspapers had great enthusiasm for abbreviations—also, to judge by Metcalf s account, a sorry sense of humor. He devotes a chapter to trying to explain why readers of the Boston Morning Post might have been amused to see "o. k." used as a jokey abbreviation for "oll korrect," an intentional misspelling of "all correct." Apparently you had to be there. But the word soon got an enormous boost from Andrew Jackson—or his enemies, anyway. They circulated the rumor that the man of the people was barely literate and approved papers with the initials "O. K." for "oll korrect." It was a joke, Metcalf concludes, "but without it there’d be no OK."
The word didn’t remain a joke for long. Telegraph operators began using it as a way to say "all clear." It became ubiquitous, turning up in all corners of the world, and beyond. Metcalf points out that OK was technically the first word spoken on the surface of the moon.
When you pause to consider what a weird and wonderful little word OK is, the most remarkable thing isn’t that it’s so great or that it was invented but that it’s American. To foreigners in the 20th century, Metcalf writes, the word embodied "American simplicity, pragmatism, and optimism." To us today, the word sums up "a whole two-letter American philosophy of tolerance, even admiration for difference."
The passage is intended to
选项
A、review Metcalf s new book on "OK".
B、reveal the unknown facts about "OK".
C、convince us of the significance of "OK".
D、answer questions concerned about "OK".
答案
A
解析
本文一开始就提到了Metcalf的新书,然后作者在首段以提问的方式引出Metcalf对于OK的研究,但本文也不是一味地介绍Metcalf的书,其中还穿插着作者对书中内容的评价,因此,本文应该是对Metcalf的新书的评论,故应选A。B为强干扰项,本文虽然提到了一些有关OK鲜为人知的故事,但文章是围绕Metcalf的书来说的,且有评论,故B没有A具体、准确;最后一段提到了OK对美国人的意义,但并不足以概括全文内容,故排除C;虽然文章首段有几个问句,但这些问题是用于引起读者的兴趣,因此,焦点不在于那些问题本身,而在于接下来的Metcalf的新书的内容,故不选D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/ZCFK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
______isknowntotheworld,MarkTwainisagreatAmericanwriter.
PoetryMonthintheUnitedStatesAprilisNationalPoetryMonthintheUnitedStates./Thisyearisthefifteenthcelebrat
WhatproblemdothepolicedepartmentshaveacrosstheUnitedStatesface?
Whatisthepurposeofgovernment’sproposalsintheUnitedStates?
NewWeddingFormsWeddingsinAmericaareoftenbig,complexandcostlyevents./Usuallyareligiousleaderorjudgeperfor
PrinceHenrystartedhisschoolto______.
Whydoesthemanmentionthatheisanewstudentattheschool?
Whilethoseearningmaster’s,doctoral,orprofessionaldegreesstillearnmoreduringtheircareersthanthosewithlesseducat
Weallleftthemeetingconvincedthattheprojectwas______.
随机试题
A.温度过高或过低B.乳化剂性质改变或加入相反类型的乳化剂C.外界因素及微生物的影响D.分散相与分散介质存在密度差E.ζ电位降低乳剂酸败的原因是()。
关于减少瘢痕形成的重要措施,不正确的是哪一项
物的担保是以债务人或第三人的特定财产为债务提供的担保,其主要形式包括()。
[2010年第46题]六氯苯的结构式正确的是()。
目前我国部分应届大学生毕业后,处于正在寻找工作的状态,这属于()。
机场障碍物的标志根据障碍物不同形状大小采用()加以标志。
下列关于账簿、凭证管理的表述,正确的是()。
简述幼儿思维方式发展变化的趋势。
两个杯中分别装有浓度为40%与10%的食盐水,倒在一起后混合食盐水浓度为30%,若再加入300克20%的食盐水,则浓度变成25%,那么原有浓度为40%的食盐水多少克?()
Asmostparentsofsmallchildrenwillreluctantlyadmit,nothingcanoccupyachildquiteliketelevision.【C1】______,thescient
最新回复
(
0
)