The Tree of Language

　　A World Without Language

　　It may be that when the world was young, no one knew how to talk. People had to learn to speak just like babies do. When no one knew how to tell, how did anyone learn? That is a mystery that remains unsolved even today.

　　The Stories Behind Words

　　Lunch

　　Lunch perhaps comes from an old spanish word lonje, a slab of ham. We may get our word from a lump of bread, but whether lunch comes from ham or bread, it meant a hunk of something to eat.

　　Atlas

　　An atlas is a strong man, and also a book of maps. The story of this word begins a long time ago in greece. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods had once been a Race of giants called Titans. The Titans fought with another group of gods called Olympians, and the Olympians won. Atlas was a Titan. Hhe was punished for fighting be having to stand at the western end of the world, holding the sky on his head and hands, so that it would not fall on the world and smash everything. After the ancient Greek religion died out, the idea of atlas changed. From holding up the sky with his head and hands, he came to be thought of as holding the world on his shoulders. Mercator, a map maker of the sixteenth century, used a picture of atlas on the cover of a book of maps, so a book of maps came to be called an atlas. The word has still another meaning. The top bone of the neck is called atlas because it supports the head.

　　Good-bye or Good-by

　　Good-bye is a blessing; originally it was god be with ye, and in the course of time it became one word. Many of our greetings are good wishes, but we say them with so little thought that we forget this. When we say good morning, good evening, good night, and so on, what we are really saying is,“ I hope you will have a good morning ( or evening, or night) . ”

　　Daisy

　　The daisy has a little golden eye , like a tiny sun. Perhaps this is the reason the English people named it Day’s Eye, or perhaps they chose the name because the English daisy closes at night. The English loved their daisies, which were pink and red, as well as white. Six hundred years or so ago, the English poet Chaucer said: the daisy, or else the eye of the day, / / the queen, and prettiest flower of all.

　　阅读自测

　　Ⅰ. According to the passage , find the correct meanings of the words under lined :

　　1. With an atlas, Tom can find the place he wants to go easily.

　　A. A strong man B. The top bone of the neck C. A book of maps D. A name of god

　　2. When you say good-bye to your friend, what do you really mean?

　　a. never see him / her again b. a good wish to express that god be with him / her c. good luck d. break up with him / her

　　3. After a long vacation, he looks as fresh as a daisy like before.

　　a. look like the flower b. a kind of drink c. a first-class man d. vigorous and lively

　　Ⅱ. Question :

　　After reading this passage, what can you infer from the stories of the words?

　　参考答案

　　Ⅰ. 1. C 2 . B 3 . D

　　Ⅱ. (自由发挥，语法正确、切题即可)

　　参考译文

　　语言趣话

　　没有语言的世界

　　世界形成之初, 可能没人知道怎么说话。人们不得不像婴儿一样学着开口讲话。既然 无人知晓如何诉说, 人们又怎么学习呢? 这个谜团至今尚待解决。

　　词语背后的故事

　　lunch ——— lunch ( 午餐) 可能来源于古西班牙语lonje 一词, 意思是一块火腿。也许这个 词源指一块面包。但是, 无论lunch 一词源指火腿还是面包, 它的意思都是一块可以吃的东西。

　　atlas ——— atlas ( 阿特拉斯) 既可以指身强体壮的人也可以指地图册。这个词的故事起 源于很久以前的希腊。古希腊人相信他们信奉的神灵曾是被称为提坦的一种巨人。提坦巨神与另一支号称奥林匹斯的神灵作战, 奥林匹斯神获胜了。阿特拉斯是提坦巨神之一。 他被罚站在西天用头和双手支撑起苍天, 不让天塌下来砸碎万事万物。当古希腊文明消失之后，atlas的意思也发生了改变，他不再是用头和双手撑起天空，而是用肩膀扛起了整个世界。16世纪的地图制作师Mercator在他的一本地图书的封面上用了一张阿特拉斯的插画，于是地图书就开始被称为atlas了。这个词还有另一个意思。最上面的一块颈骨被称作atlas，因为它支撑着头部。

　　Good-bye或Good-by

　　good-bye(再见)是一种祝愿。最初的说法是god be with ye(愿上帝与你同在)，然后随着时间的发展逐渐变成了一个词。我们打招呼时说的话大部分都是好的祝愿，但我们说的时候很少去思考这层含义以至于我们都忘记了。当我们说早上好、晚上好、晚安，还有类似的句子时，我们真正在说的其实是：“我希望你拥有一个美好的早上(晚上/夜晚)。”

　　Daisy(雏菊)

　　雏菊的小小的花心是金色的，就像一个小太阳。或许这就是英国人称它为日之眼(Day's Eye)的原因。也可能因为他们选择这种称呼因为英国雏菊在晚上会把花瓣合起来。英国雏菊有粉色、红色和白色。英国人非常喜欢它们。约600年前，英国诗人乔叟曾说道：雏菊，亦或称其为白日之眼/是花之后，繁花中的最艳之颜。