Question

    US president Donald Trump has popularized the phrase “fake news”.But not too long ago these words in combination（结合）would have meant little to everyday English speakers.

Anatoly Liberman writes about the origins of the word “fake”. The word, it turns out, has a very dark past. The best guess at how “fake” became the mainstream, argues Liberman, is that it was a kind of word used by thieves in London. But “how it got there, nobody in the world knows, and probably nobody will ever know,” he tells a newspaper.

Liberman is a professor at the University of Minnesota and the author of Word Origins... and How We Know Them: Etymology for Everyone. He writes that early records of “fake” as an English adjective appeared around the middle of the 18th century. The word likely comes from cant, or thief jargon（行话）.

The OED mentions “fake” as a verb starting in 1819, which basically meant “to do” in jargon, but also “to kill, wound, or rob someone”. An entry from a dictionary that year reads: To fake any person or place is to rob them; to fake a person may also imply “to shoot, wound, or cut”; to fake a man out and out is to kill him.

Liberman traces（研究……的历史）the word next to Chares Dickens，who used “cly-faker”, where “cly” means a pocket, in Oliver Twist. This is how he believes knowledge of “fake” as a word that means “to steal”. Eventually it became a common English word.

1.What can we learn about Anatoly Liberman?

A.He shows great interest in words’ origins.

B.He is interested in all the English words.

C.He lived in England for a long time.

D.He likes writing articles in English very much.

2.What is mainly discussed in this passage?

A.The history of English words.

B.Some stories about English words.

C.The importance of the English word “fake”.

D.The origins of an English word.

3.What can we infer from this passage?

A.We must focus on the words of Donald Trump.

B.We should study English words very carefully.

C.“Fake” likely comes from words used by a class of people.

D.“Fake” is a new English word made by Donald Trump.

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章探讨了“fake”这个词的起源。

1.推理判断题。由第三段中的“Libeman is a professor at the University of Minnesota and the author of Word Origins... and Hou We Knou Them: Etymology for Everyone”可知，Liberman是明尼苏达大学的教授，对词源颇有研究，且在文中他探索了“fake”一词的起源。由此可以推知，他对词源很感兴趣。故A项正确。

2.主旨大意题。通读全文并由文章第二段中的“Anatoly Liberman writes about the origins of the word ‘fake’”和下文的具体介绍可知，文章主要探讨了“fake”这个词的起源。故D项正确。

3.推理判断题。由第二段中的“The best guess at how ‘fake’ became the mainstream, argues Liberman, is that it was a kind of word used by thieves in London”可知，Liberman提出，关于“fake”一词如何成为主流词，最可靠的猜测应该是它曾是伦敦小偷之间的行话。故C项正确。