Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is n

Societies all over the world name places in similarways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to becalled names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps inand gives the place a name. Often it happens that a place has two names: One isnamed by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, oldhabits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficialname long after the meaning is lost.

Many roads and places in Singaporeare named in orderthat the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have namessuch as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions inmany countries ---- in both the West and the East.

Another way of naming places is naming them afterother places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the twoplaces or it could be that the people who used to live there were originallyfrom the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when wesee some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into SelectorAirbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesickRoyal Air Force personnel.

Some places were named after the activities that usedto go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “BaseBasah” means “wet rice” in Malay. Now why would anyone want to name a road “WetRice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laidout to dry along this road.

A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes.There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names todescribe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called acrescent（月牙） because it begins on the main road, makesa crescent and comes back to join the main road again.

1. We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.

A．thegovernment is usually the first to name a place

B．a ceremonywill be held when a place is named

C．many placestend to have more than one name

D．people preferthe place names given by the government

2. Which of the following places is named after aperson?

A．RafflesPlace.                          B．SelectorAirbase.

C．PiccadillyCircus.                        D．Paya LebarCrescent.

3. What does the underlined phrase “die hard” inParagraph 1 probably mean?

A．Changesuddenly.                       B．Changegreatly.

C．Disappearquickly.                       D．Disappearvery slowly.

4. Bras Basah Road is named _______.

A．after anactivity                         B．after a place

C．after aperson                          D．by its shape

5. What can be inferred from the passage?

A．The waySingaporeans name their places is unique.

B．Some placesin Singapore are named for military purposes.

C．Some placenames in Singapore are the same as in Britain.

D．YoungSingaporeans have forgotten the pioneers.

试题答案

【答案】

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.A

5.C

【解析】

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