Question

Dutch treat is a late-nineteenth-century term, and it originally refers to a dinner where everyone is expected to pay for his own share of the food and drink. If people go “Dutch treat”, or simply “go Dutch”, it means that they will share the expenses of a social engagement.

   There are many other “Dutch” expressions in English, many of which were invented in Britain in the seventeenth century, when the Dutch and the English were commercial and military rivals. The British used “Dutch” to refer to something bad, cheap and shameful. A “Dutch bargain” at that time was an uneven, one-sided deal; “Dutch reckoning” was an unitemized(未逐条记载的) account; and “Dutch widow” was slang for prostitute. Later centuries brought in “Dutch courage”, for bravery caused by drink; “Dutch concert”, for noisy music; “Dutch nightingale”, meaning a frog; and “double Dutch”, for incomprehensible language or talk.

   Some of the expressions are still in use today, but some are not. In fact, in American English, some “Dutch” expressions have nothing to do with the Dutch, but something with the German. It was probably because of the similar spelling and pronunciation that people made a mistake in distinguishing between “Dutch” and “Deutsch” (the German word for German), when German immigrants came to America in the 1700s. For instance, “the Pennsylvania Dutch” refers to the German descendants, instead of the Dutch descendants, living in Pennsylvania.

1.Many of the “Dutch” expressions were invented with negative sense, because ___________.

A. The Dutch were underdeveloped people.

B. Britain and Holland were competitors at that time.

C. The Dutch had many bad habits.

D. The British were superior to the Dutch.

2. With the information you get from Paragraph 2, make a guess at the meaning of the sentence “You are in Dutch”. It probably means ____________ .

A.You are in Holland.                                              B. You are welcome.

C. You are in trouble.                                              D. You are lucky.

3.According to the passage, some native American “Dutch” expressions were related to the German instead of the Dutch, simply because ______________.

A. People hated the German as much as the Dutch.

B. People made a mistake at the beginning.

C. People made a joke about the German.

D. The German immigrants proclaimed that they were Dutch.

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.B

【解析】

试题分析：Dutch treat是十九世纪后期的术语，它原本是指每个人都预期支付他自己份额的食品和饮料的一顿晚餐。如果人们去Dutch treat，或简单地“go Dutch”，这意味着他们将分享参与某一个社会活动的费用。有很多其他含Dutch的英语习语，其中许多被发明了在英国在十七世纪，当时荷兰人和英语是商业和军事竞争对手。英语中用Dutch指坏、 廉价和可耻的东西。 一些表达今天仍在使用。事实上，在美国英语中，含有Dutch的习语与荷兰人无关，但与德国相关。这大概是当德国移民在 18 世纪来到美国时，由于当地人把Dutch和Deutsch (德语中德国人) 这两个在拼写和发音上很相似的词弄混了。

1.细节理解题。题干问：许多发明的带有“Dutch”的习语含有否定意义，因为什么？根据文中的the Dutch and the English were commercial and military rivals. （当时荷兰人和英语是商业和军事竞争对手。）可知，选 B。

2.推理判断题。题干问：根据从第二段获得的信息，猜一下You are in Dutch的意思。第二段介绍，英国人用" Dutch "指坏、 廉价和可耻的东西。，故选C。（你有麻烦了。）

3.细节理解题。题干问：根据本段介绍，一些当地美国人用Dutch习语与德国人而不是荷兰人有关。因为什么？根据最后一段的解释可知，在18世纪德国人来到美国时，当地人在拼写和发音方面混淆了Dutch 和Deutsch（指德国）。故选B。（ 一开始弄错了。）

考点：文化类短文阅读。