Uncertainty spreads through our lives so thoroughly that it dominates our language，Our everyday speech is made up in large part of words like probably, many, soon,great,little.What do these words mean?
Such verbal imprecision is not necessarily to be criticized. Indeed, it has a value Just because it allows uw to express judgments when a precise quantitative statement is out of the question.
We have been trying to pin down by experiments what people meari by these expressions in specific contexts, and how the meanings change with age. For instance,a subject is told "There are many trees in the park" and is asked to say what number the word may mean to him. Or a child is invited to take "some" sweets from a bowl and we then count how many he has taken. We compare the number he takes when he is alone with the number when one or more other children are present and are to take some sweets after him, or with the number he takes when told to give
“some" sweets to another child.
First, we find that the number depends, of course, on the items involved. To most people some friends means about five, while some trees means about twenty. However, unrelated areas sometimes show parallel values. For instance, the language of probability seems to mean about the same thing in predictions about the weather and about politics: the expression is certain to( rain,or be elected)signifies to the average person about a 70 percent chance; is likely to, about a 60 percent chance; probably will, about 55 percent.
Secondly, the size of the population of items influences the value assigned to an expression.Thus, if we tell a subject to take "a few" or“a lot of" glass balls from a box, he will take me if the box contains a large number of glass balls than if it has a small number, But not proportionately more: if we increase the number of glass balls eight times, the subject takes only half as large a percentage of the total.
Thirdly, there is a marked change with age. Among children between six and fourteen years old, the older the child, the fewer glass balls, he will take. But the difference between a lot and a few widens with age. This age effect is so consistent that it might be used as a test of intelligence.
51. What's the right attitude towards the words like probably, any and soon ?
A. They are inaccurate and we should avoid them.
B. They are necessary since we cannot be always precise.
C. They should be criticized because there are too many of them.
D. Their value is not yet clear since we don't know their meaning.
52. Why do we do experiments with the words many and some?
A. To prove that people are insensitive to these words.
B. To prove that the words dominate our everyday speech.
C. To find out how the meanings vary with age and contexts.
D. To find out whether the words can mean a precise quantity.
53. Which of the following expressions means a larger chance in weather broadcast?
A. Possible. B. Probable. C. Be likely to. D. Be certain to.
54. Which of the following is similar to the underlined word signifies in its meaning?
A. makes B. means C. predicts D. indicates
55. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Uncertainty in the Language Use.
B. How to Use Language in an Uncertain Way
C.Uncertain Words and their Use in Specific Contexts
D. Experiments on Relationship between Uncertainty and Language Use
全優點練單元計劃系列答案科目：高中英語 來源：101網校同步練習 高一英語 外語教學與研究出版社 題型：054
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Most, if not all, Chinese have become richer thanks to 28 years of reform and opening up. But are we any happier?
Various surveys attempt to answer this question. Though experts have presented varying percentages based on different standards, their answers tend to find we are generally happier, and the number of optimists rises each year. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ 2006 Blue Book on social progress says 70 per cent of rural and urban citizens surveyed in 2005 reported a feeling of happiness and were optimistic about their futures.
But each survey shows a worrisome fact that 10 per cent, at the lowest, of citizens were not content with their lives or not hopeful about the future. We cannot be content with the fact that at least 130 million of our countrymen are not happy.
Although a sense of happiness remains a luxury（奢望）for many of our countrymen because of poverty, we agree wealth is not the only factor of happiness. For most of us, except the extremely rich and naturally born optimists, there simply are too many variables (可變物) that may kill the feeling of happiness. These include, but are not limited to, rising housing prices, tight and instable job market, back-breaking schooling expenses and medical bills.
The most common one, however, is a low sense of security (安全). Some experts pointed that in the low-and-middle income group there was too much uncertainty regarding employment, income, housing, medical situations, and education. How can you feel happy when you always have to prepare yourself for the unexpected?
It may be beyond the government’s reach, not to mention duty, to guarantee (保證) higher income for every citizen. But it does have a burden to create an environment where all citizens can feel a reasonable level of security.
From the second paragraph we learn _____________________.
A. 70 % of Chinese people feel happy and optimistic about their future
B. the data and the conclusions of the surveys are the same
C. the surveys about the sense of happiness were carried out in 2006
D. the purpose of the surveys is to find out the percentage of rich people
The following factors of happiness are mentioned in the passage EXCEPT _________.
A. security B. environment C. wealth D. employment
The underlined word “countrymen” in Paragraph 3 refers to ___________.
A. people from the countryside B. people from cities
C. people from all countries D. Chinese citizens
According to the passage, the author tends to hold the view that _________.
A. the wealthier we get, the happier we become
B. though we get wealthier, we do not feel happier
C. it is the government’s duty to raise every citizen’s income
D. the government should make sure all citizens feel a good level of security
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
We’ve considered several ways of paying to cut in line: hiring line standers, buying tickets from scalpers (票販子), or purchasing line-cutting privileges directly from, say, an airline or an amusement park. Each of these deals replaces the morals of the queue (waiting your turn) with the morals of the market (paying a price for faster service).
Markets and queues—paying and waiting—are two different ways of allocating things, and each is appropriate to different activities. The morals of the queue, “ First come, first served,冶 have an egalitarian (平等主義的）appeal. They tell us to ignore privilege, power, and deep pockets.
The principle seems right on playgrounds and at bus stops. But the morals of the queue do not govern all occasions. If I put my house up for sale, I have no duty to accept the first offer that comes along, simply because it’s the first. Selling my house and waiting for a bus are different activities, properly governed by different standards.
Sometimes standards change, and it is unclear which principle should apply. Think of the recorded message you hear, played over and over, as you wait on hold when calling your bank: “Your call will be answered in the order in which it was received•” This is essential for the morals of the queue. It’s as if the company is trying to ease our impatience with fairness.
But don’t take the recorded message too seriously. Today, some people’s calls are answered faster than others. Call center technology enables companies to “score” incoming calls and to give faster service to those that come from rich places. You might call this telephonic queue jumping.
Of course, markets and queues are not the only ways of allocating things. Some goods we distribute by merit, others by need, still others by chance. However, the tendency of markets to replace queues, and other non-market ways of allocating goods is so common in modern life that we scarcely notice it anymore. It is striking that most of the paid queue-jumping schemes we，ve considered—at airports and amusement parks, in call centers, doctors’ offices, and national parks—are recent developments, scarcely imaginable three decades ago. The disappearance of the queues in these places may seem an unusual concern, but these are not the only places that markets have entered.
58. According to the author, which of the following seems governed by the principle “First come, first served”?
A. Taking buses. B. Buying houses.
C. Flying with an airline. D. Visiting amusement parks.
59. The example of the recorded message in Paragraphs 4 and 5 illustrates ______.
A. the necessity of patience in queuing
B. the advantage of modern technology
C. the uncertainty of allocation principle
D. the fairness of telephonic services
60. The passage is meant to ______.
A. justify paying for faster services B. discuss the morals of allocating things
C. analyze the reason for standing in line D. criticize the behavior of queue jumping
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科目：高中英語 來源：2012屆上海市華師大一附中等八校高三2月聯合調研考試英語試卷 題型：填空題
Read the following text and choose the most suitable heading from the list A-F for each paragraph. There is one extra heading which you do not need.?
| A. The description of using amateur records to encourage the public. B. The description of old records kept by amateur naturalists. C. Concerns over amateur data for lacking objectivity and precision. D. The necessity of encouraging amateur collection. E. How people react to their involvement in data collection. F. The application of amateur records to phonology. |
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科目：高中英語 來源：2013年全國普通高等學校招生統一考試英語（重慶卷解析版） 題型：閱讀理解
It is widely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnson’s famous comment that “When two English meet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnson’s observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weather-speak.
Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exciting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that “To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.
Jeremy Paxman, however, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English weather is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. “The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the weather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.
Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weather-speak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point. The English weather conversation is not really about the weather at all. English weather-speak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weather-speak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversation starters or the blank “fillers”. In other words, English weather-speak is a means of social bonding.
1.The author mentions Dr. Johnson’s comment to show that______.
A．most commentators agree with Dr. Johnson
B．Dr. Johnson is famous for his weather observation
C．the comment was accurate two hundred years ago
D．English conversations usually start with the weather
2.What does the underlined word “obsession” most probably refer to?
A．A social trend.
B．An emotional state.
C．A historical concept.
D．An unknown phenomenon.
3.According to the passage, Jeremy Paxman believes that______.
A．Bill Bryson has little knowledge of the weather
B．there is nothing special about the English weather
C．the English weather attracts people to the British Isles
D．English people talk about the weather for its uncertainty
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?
A．To explain what English weather-speak is about.
B．To analyse misconceptions about the English weather.
C．To find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman.
D．To convince people that the English weather is changeable.
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