Question

The question this week comes from our listener Herve Acard, who asks about the American word “OK”, which means “all right” or “acceptable”. It expresses agreement or approval. The word is used more often than any other word in the world.

Language expert Allen Walker Read said the word began as a short way of writing a different spelling of the words “all correct”. Old stories say some foreign-born people would write “all correct” as o-l-l k-o-r-r-e-c-t and spoke it as “OK”. Some people say it came from the Native American Indian tribe known as the Choctaws. The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word “OK”. Experts say early explorers in the Western America spoke the Choctaw language in the nineteenth century. The language spread across the country.

According to some people, “OK” was a way to shorten Greek words that mean everything is fine. It is also said that a railroad worker named Obadiah Kelly invented the word. He is said to have put the first letters of his names — O and K — on each object people gave him to place on the train.

Another explanation is that “OK” was invented by a political organization that supported Martin Van Buren for president in the 1800s. They called their organization the OK Club. The letters O and K were taken from the name of the town where Martin Van Buren was born — Old Kinderhook, New York.

Not everyone agrees with these explanations, but experts do agree that the word is purely American and has spread to almost every country on Earth. Yet in the United States, it is used mostly in speech. Serious writers prefer using words, such as “agree”, “approve” or “confirm” instead.

1.Where does the passage probably come from?

A. A newspaper.                                B. A textbook.

C. A radio program.                       D. A language magazine.

2.Of the following origins, which one has the same meaning as the American word “OK”?

A. The OK Club

B. The Choctaw word “okeh”

C. The word invented by Martin Van Buren

D. The short form of “all correct”

3.According to the passage, which statement is NOT true?

A. People disagree about the origin of “OK”.

B. “OK” is often used in formal writing in the USA.

C. The word “OK” is widely used all over the world.

D. Native American language once influenced American English.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.B

3.B

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了“OK”這個詞的歷史，對于它的來歷不同的人有不同的觀點，最后短文指出專家認為它是真正的美國人的語言，然后傳到了地球上的各個地方。

1.文章出處題。根據短文開頭The question this week comes from our listener Herve Acard,這個問題來自聽眾，所以應是收音機廣播電臺的節目，故選C。

2.細節理解題。根據The Choctaw word “okeh” means the same as the American word “OK”它們的意思是一樣的，故選B。

3.細節理解題。根據Not everyone agrees with these explanations,一些人不同意這個解釋，故選項A符合原文；has spread to almost every country on Earth.它已經被傳到了世界各地，故選項C符合原文；the word began as a short way of writing a different spelling of the words “all correct”它是“all correct”的縮寫，故選項D符合原文，故選B。

考點：文化類短文閱讀。

點評：文章出處題應從文章的內容或結構來判斷其出處：報紙：前面會出現日期、地點或通訊社名稱。廣告：因其格式特殊，容易辨認。產品說明：器皿、設備的使用說明會有產品名稱或操作方式，而藥品的服用說明會告知服用時間、次數、藥量等。本篇短文主要看的是開頭的第一句。