Question

    Have you ever wondered what the longest word in the English language is? Believe it or not, there’s no simple answer to the question. You might think it would be as easy as opening a dictionary and looking for the longest word. However, it’ s far more complicated than that.

Over time, many people have suggested many different words for the title of the longest word in English. How can that be? That’s because the first thing that people have different opinions on is what should be considered a word. Some of the words were simply made up to be the longest! For example, there is one really famous long word that most kids know. It comes from Disney’s movie Mary Poppins: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, which means wonderful. But since that 34-letter word was made up simply to be sung as a song in a movie, should it count?

How about long words that actually describe something in the world? Scientists have come up with several possible choices. The name of a virus totals 1, 185 letters. There’s also a protein whose name totals 1, 909 letters. Should these win the title? “Not so fast!” say some people. Are these words ever actually used? Can they even be pronounced? And are they meaningful just because they are made up to be long?

If you’re wondering about some long words in common English, here are some examples. Those words include uncharacteristically (20 letters), deinstitutionalization (22 letters) and counterrevolutionaries (also 22 letters). Or perhaps the word “smiles” is the longest word in English. Sure, it has only six letters, but there is a “mile” between the first and the last letters!

1.What is the first thing to consider when we decide the longest word?

A.Whether it is a real word. B.Whether it can be pronounced.

C.Whether it is used in daily life. D.Whether it can be understood.

2.Why does the author mention the underlined questions in paragraph 3?

A.To express the writer’s concern. B.To compare different ideas.

C.To amuse readers. D.To show people’s doubt.

3.How does the author sound in the last paragraph?

A.Proud. B.Humorous.

C.Excited. D.Surprised.

4.The text is mainly about _________________________.

A.English words change a lot as time goes by

B.it is hard to decide what the longest word is

C.long words are often used in scientific fields

D.why we can’t understand some English words

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.B

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇议论文。文章提到了英语中哪个单词是最长的单词这一问题，看似简单，这个问题其实很复杂，许多人给出过很多不同的单词，但是最终都没有得出一致定论。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段中That’s because the first thing that people have different opinions on is what should be considered a word.一句可知对于一个单词是否可以被认为是最长的单词第一件要考虑的是：它是否应该被认为是一个单词。由此可知选项A正确。故选A。

2.推理判断题。结合上句Should these win the title? “Not so fast!” say some people.（这些单词应该赢得最长单词的称号吗？有些人说：不能这么快下结论）以及划线的三个问题可知有些人表达了不同观点，由此可知这几个问题主要是体现人的疑问。故选D。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段中Or perhaps the word “smiles” is the longest word in English. Sure, it has only six letters, but there is a “mile” between the first and the last letters!（或许smile这个词最长。当然只有六个字母，但是在第一个和最后一个字母之间由“一英里mile”）可知在最后一句中的语气略显幽默。A. Proud.自豪；B. Humorous.幽默；C. Excited.激动；D. Surprised.惊讶的。故选B。

4.主旨大意题。通览全文可知作者在文章中提到了英语中那个单词是最长的单词这一问题，作者在文中提到了几类长单词。看似简单，这个问题其实很复杂，由此可知选项B B. it is hard to decide what the longest word is（很难确定最长的单词是什么）符合。故选B。