24-Wednesday 字谜游戏 228词

题材： 字谜游戏　 词数： 228　 建议阅读时间： 5分钟

阅读下面的短文，选择正确答案。

In the 1930s，a lot of people in the USA were out of work．Among these people was a man named Alfred Butts，he always had an interest in word games and so，to fill his time，he planned a game which he called“Lexico”．However，he was not completely satisfied with the game，so he made a number of changes to it and，in time，changed its name from“Lexico”to“Alph”and then to“Criss Cross”．He wanted to make some money from his new game but he didn't have any real commercial success．

In 1939，Butts happened to meet a man called Jim Brunot who showed an interest in the new game．The two men worked together on developing the game and in 1948 it was offered for sale in the United States under its new name—“Scrabble”．

At first，it didn't sell very well．In the first year it sold just 2,250 sets and by 1951 it had only reached 8,500 sets a year．

Then，in 1952 the manager of Macy's department store in New York，Jack Strauss，happened to play“Scrabble”while he was on holiday．He thought it was a wonderful game and，when he went back to work after his holiday，he insisted that Macy's should stock the game and make an effort to call the public's attention to it．

As a result，“Scrabble”became a big success in the United States and it soon spread to Australia and then to other English-speaking countries．

生词

fill one's time 　消磨时间，打发时间：People must fill their time“healthily”and“meaningfully”．人们必须“健康地”、“有意义地”打发时间。

in time 　有节奏地，和拍子地：They were trained to march in time．他们进行有节奏的行军训练。

commercial　adj． 商业性的：Does this discovery have any commercial value？这一发现有任何商业价值吗？

stock　v． 采办，贮存：That shop stocks all types of shoes．那家商店备有各种式样的鞋子。

1．The text is mainly about ________．

A．“Lexico”

B．three men

C．a word game

D．Alfred Butts

2．Alfred Butts invented the game“Lexico”________．

A．to make himself famous

B．to make spelling simpler

C．when he was out of work and looking for a job

D．when he was playing word games to pass the time

3．Who made“Scrabble”popular？

A．Alfred Butts．

B．Jack Strauss．

C．Alfred Butts and Jim Brunot．

D．Jack Strauss and Jim Brunot．

4．When did Alfred Butts first put his game on the market？

A．In 1939．

B．In 1948．

C．Before 1939．

D．Between 1939 and 1948．

参考译文

20世纪30年代，许多美国人失业了。其中有一个叫做阿尔弗雷德·巴特斯的男人，他一直对字谜游戏感兴趣，所以，为了打发时间，他发明了一种叫做“Lexico”的字谜游戏。然而，他对这种游戏并不很满意，所以，他又做了一系列改进，并相应的把名字从“Lexico”改为“Alph”然后又改为“Criss Cross”。他想从这款新游戏中挣些钱，但却没有取得任何实质上的商业成功。

1939年，巴特斯碰巧遇到了一个叫做吉米·布鲁诺特的人，他对这款新游戏表现出了兴趣。于是这两个人开始合作开发这款游戏，并于1948年以“Scrabble”的新名字在美国上市销售。

一开始，销售并不顺利。第一年只卖出去2250套，到了1951年，全年也仅售出8500套。

1952年，纽约梅茜百货公司的经理杰克·施特劳斯碰巧在度假的时候玩起了这种游戏。他觉得这是一种很好的游戏，于是，当他度假结束回去工作时，他坚持让梅茜公司购进这种游戏，并努力唤起公众对它的注意。

结果，这种拼字游戏在美国大卖特卖，并很快传播到澳大利亚，其后，又传到其他英语国家。

参考答案

Wednesday 1．C　2．D　3．B　4．C