Etymology (语源), the study of words and word roots, may sound like the kind of thing done by boring librarians in small rooms. Yet etymologists actually have an interesting job. They are in many ways just like archaeologists (考古学家) digging up the history of people and events. The special aspect of etymology is that it digs up history, so to speak, through the words and phrases that are left behind.
The English language is a great field to explore history through words. As a language, English has a number of words. In some way, this is because it has its ability to adapt (适应) foreign words so easily. For example, “English” words such as kindergarten (from German), croissant (from French), and cheetah (from Hindi) have become part of the language with little or no change from their original (最初的) sounds and spellings. So English-language etymologists have a large world of words to explore.
Another enjoyable thing about etymology for most word experts is solving word mysteries (谜). No, etymologists do not go around solving murders (谋杀), like the great detective (侦探) Sherlock Holmes. What these word experts solve are mysterious origins of some of our most common words.
One of the biggest questions English language experts have pursued is how English came to have the phrase OK. Though it is one of the most commonly used expressions, its exact beginning is a puzzle even to this day. Even its spelling is not completely consistent(吻合的)—unless you spell it Okay, it is hard even to call it a word.
Etymologists have been able to narrow OK’s origin down to a likely, although not certain, source (来源). It became widely used around the time of Martin Van Buren’s run for president in 1840. His nickname (昵称) was Old Kinderhook. What troubles word experts about this explanation is that the phrase appeared in some newspapers before Van Buren became well known. It is likely that Van Buren could be called its primary source. Etymologists will doubtlessly keep searching for the original source. However, it is clear that OK’s popularity and reputation (名声) have topped those of the American president to whom it has been most clearly connected with.
【小题1】The author mentions the words like “croissant” in Paragraph 2 to show _________.| A．words have changed a lot in the two languages |
| B．what English-language etymologists are exploring now |
| C．English has absorbed (吸收) many words from other foreign languages |
| D．the English vocabulary is difficult to the non-English-speaking people |
| A．looked upon | B．dug up | C．put in | D．set down |
| A．discover the possible origin of words |
| B．help detectives to solve mysterious murders |
| C．write interesting stories for some newspapers |
| D．explore the English language as well as the recent events |
| A．To present the history of English words. |
| B．To explain what an etymologist does for his job. |
| C．To introduce the pleasure of the study of words and word roots. |
| D．To teach readers how to tell English words from non-English words. |
