Unit One
Answer Key
Comprehension
A
1. D
2. It contrasts the attitudes of the French and the English-speaking people toward
keeping their mother tongue "pure."
3. The author does not appreciate the French attitude. He believes that they have
gone to the extreme, because he says that 'the mind boggles at what the world might
face. "That means the French are so sensitive that it is difficult to imagine what
they will do to keep French pure in the future.
4. B
5. It refers to the differences between British and American English with regard
to pronunciation and spelling of English. The author seems to agree with the
Americans' viewpoint.
6. C
7. The King's English refers to English in its most proper and formal use. However,
as it is used in foreign places, it is often used improperly. Here "lingo" mocks the
formality of English that no longer exists in these foreign Usages
8. Foreign varieties of English are very different from the original standard
British English, sometimes they are barely recognizable.
9. B
10. The author thinks that communication is more important than the purification of
the English language.
B
1. fast delivery (of the product)/rapid killing (of the customer)
2. Please hang your own coat and hat here/die by hanging yourself
3. "revolutionary" ideas are being sold/disgusting new ideas are being sold
4. best bakers/idle, lazy persons
5. the latest rnethod/a Christian denomination
6. a doctor for women's diseases/regard women as a disease or womanizer (vulgar
meaning)
7. press the button of the lift to move it/inefficiency of the lift
8. how to get service/open the door and call out the words “Room service”. (rude)
9. in an European atmosphere/a car that rushes a person to the hospital
10. serve the best wine/our wine is very bad; hopeless
11. from 12~ 14 o'clock chamber maids are not busy/treat chambermaids unfairly (with
possible sexual meaning)
12. the pictures were painted in the last ten years/the painters were put to death
13. leave your laundry/be naked or take off your clothes
14. dancing is going on/very vulgar language (a reference to male sex organs)