Vaccine

“Vaccine”(疫苗) is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year. The word was selected based on lookup data, notable spikes, and year-over-year increases in searches. On the site, lookups for “vaccine” increased by 601% over 2020, especially in the second half of the year. There was a 1,048% increase in site lookups this year compared to 2019. This August, lookups of “vaccine” jumped 535% due to widespread use in parts of the world and major stories about policy, permission and vaccination rates. And searches have remained stable through late fall. This selection comes after “pandemic” was chosen in 2020. The Oxford English Dictionary selected “vax” as their word of the year.

NFT

“NFT” is 2021’s “Word of the Year”, Collins Dictionary announced. According to the dictionary, NFT is “a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset(资产) such as an artwork or a collectible.” Perhaps the most well-known example of an NFT is “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” a collection of digital art made by designer Mike Winkelmann. In March, an NFT for the piece sold for $69.3 million. “Whether the NFT will have a lasting influence is yet to be determined, but its sudden appearance in conversations around the world makes it very clearly our Word of the Year,” the dictionary said.

Perseverance

Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year for 2021 has been known as “perseverance”. The word was inspired by NASA’s mission to Mars, as data showed that users across the globe searched for the word online more than 243,000 times throughout the year. The dictionary found there was a sudden large increase in searches for the meaning of “perseverance” between 18 and 24 February, after NASA’s Perseverance Rover(探测器) landed on Mars. Last year, Cambridge Dictionary named “quarantine” as word of the year, after it became one of the most highly searched for words online.

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1.Which was Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2020?

A Perseverance.

B Vaccination.

C Pandemic.

D Vax.

解析：选C。C 细节理解题。根据第一段This selection comes after “pandemic” was chosen in 2020.可知2020年《韦氏词典》把pandemic选为年度词汇，故选C。

2.What made “NFT” the Word of the Year according to Collins Dictionary?

A Non-fungible token.

B Digital artworks.

C A famous designer.

D Widespread discussion.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句中的“but its sudden appearance in conversations around the world”可知，NFT之所以成为《柯林斯词典》的年度词汇是因为它突然出现在世界各地的对话中，即被广泛讨论。故选D。

3.The increasing number of searches for the word “perseverance” resulted from_______.

A a NASA’s mission

B a Mars rover’s landing

C a new complex meaning of it

D a growing number of Internet users

解析：选B。B 推理判断题。根据第三段第三句可知，在2月18日到24日期间，也就是美国宇航局的“毅力号”探测器登陆火星后，网友对“毅力”一词的含义的搜索量激增，即该探测器的着陆导致人们大量查询“preference”一词，故选B。

4.Where does this passage probably come from?

A A dictionary.

B A guidebook.

C A news report.

D A science book.

解析：选C。C 文章出处题。根据全文内容可知，文章总结了三大英文词典评选出的2021年度词汇，属于热点新闻，所以最有可能出现在新闻报道里面，故选C。