適用地區:河南、河北、山西、江西、湖北、湖南、廣東、安徽、福建、山東 C Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going. When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit (聯系)groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other. Some language experts believe that 10,000 years ago, when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them. 幾千年來,語言總是不斷地出現和消失,但在近代,新出現的語言越來越少,而消失的卻越來越多了。當這個世界還是狩獵采集者的世界時,很多小而緊密聯系的群體都有著各自獨立的語言模式,因此那時候的語言種類繁多。一些語言專家認為,一萬年前,當世界上只有500萬到1000萬人的時候,他們之間大約有12000種語言。 Soon afterwards, many of those people started settling down to become farmers, and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number. In recent centuries, trade, industrialization, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalization and better communications in the past few decades, all have caused many Languages to disappear, and dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over. 但不久之后,這些人中有很多人開始定居下來成為農民,而他們的語言也變得越來越固定,數量也越來越少。近幾個世紀以來,貿易、工業化、民族國家的發展和義務教育的普及,尤其是過去幾十年中全球化的實現和更好的通信交流,都導致了很多語言的消失,使它們日益為英語、西班牙語和漢語等優勢語言所取代。 At present, the world has about 6, 800languages. The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven. The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages, often spoken by many people, while hot wet zones have lots, often spoken by small numbers. Europe has only around 200 languages; the Americas about 1, 000; Africa 2, 400; and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3,200, of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800. The median number(中位數) of speakers is mere 6,000, which that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that. 目前,世界上有大約6800種語言,而且這些語言的分布極不均衡。一般的規律是,溫和地區的語言相對較少,但講的人卻很多,而炎熱潮濕地區的語言很多,但講的人卻通常很少。歐洲只有大約200種語言;美洲有約1000種;非洲400種;亞洲和太平洋地區大約有3200種,其中僅巴布亞新幾內亞就有超過800多種。世界語言使用人數的中位數為6000人,這意味著世界上有一半的語言使用人數要少于這一數字。 Already well over 400 of the total of 6, 800languages are close to extinction (消亡), with only a few elderly speakers left. Pick, at random, Busuu in Cameroon (eight remaining speakers), Chiapaneco in Mexico (150), Lipan Apachein the United States (two or three) or Wadjigu in Australia (one, with a question-mark): none of these seems to have much chance of survival. 在這6800種語言中,有超400多種語言也已瀕臨消亡,只剩一些上了年紀的人還在使用。隨便挑幾個來說,如喀麥隆的Busuu(僅剩8人還在使用)、墨西哥的Chiapaneco(只剩150人)、美國的古吉拉特文(只剩兩三個人在用)或澳大利亞的Wadjigu(只有一人,就這還得打個問號):它們的消亡也只是時間問題了。 28. What can we infer about languages in huntergatherer times? 28. 以下關于狩獵采集時代語言的推斷哪個是正確的? A. They developed very fast. B. They were large in number. A. 它們發展很快。 B.它們數量很多。 C. They had similar patterns. D. They were closely connected C. 它們模式相似。 D. 它們緊密相連。 29. Which of the following best explains "dominant " underlined in paragraph 2? 29. 下列哪項最好地解釋了第2段中強調的“dominant”? A. Complex. B. Advanced. C. Powerful. D. Modern. 30. How many languages are spoken by less than 6, 000 people at present? 30.目前有多少種語言的使用者少于6000人? A. About 6 800 B. About 3400 C. About 2.400 D. About1-200 31. What is the main idea of the text? 31. 本文的主旨是什么? A. New languages will be created. B Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages C. Human development results in fewer languages D. Geography determines language evolution. 答案與解析: 28. B 解析:推斷題。先看題干“What can we infer about languages in huntergatherer times? 以下關于狩獵采集時代語言的推斷哪個是正確的?”。所以我們首先要找到“huntergatherer”出現的段落,也就是第一段。 然后我們用排除法來做這道題(排除法非常適用于推斷題):根據出現這個詞的這句原文“當這個世界還是狩獵采集者的世界時,很多小而緊密聯系的群體都有著各自獨立的語言模式,因此那時候的語言種類繁多。”A沒有講到;C項:原文有說independent patterns,顯然是不同的模式;D項緊密相連的是“groups”而不是語言。所以B項是正確的。 29. C 解析:詞義猜測題。如果我們平時詞匯積累夠的話“dominant:占主導地位的,有優勢的,占據統治地位的”,很容易就能把C項選擇出來。如果不知道這個單詞什么意思,就需要定位到“dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese areincreasingly taking over. ”根據原文來猜測。 30. B 解析:定位到第三段,根據本段最后一句“世界語言使用人數的中位數為6000人,這意味著世界上有一半的語言使用人數要少于這一數字。”可知使用人數不足6000人的語言占世界語言的一半,那么我們只需要知道世界上目前有多少語言就行了。根據本段第一句“目前,世界上有大約6800種語言”。所以6800的一半就是3400。 31. C 解析:本題需要通篇理解,整篇文章主要講的就是隨著人類的發展,很多語言消失了。我們使用排除法來做這道題。A.新的語言將產生,顯然是不對的。B.人們的生活方式會在語言中體現出來,也不對。C項完全契合。D項顯然也不對。 重點詞匯掌握: Soon afterwards 不久之后 Industrialization 工業化 Compulsoryeducation 義務教育 Globalization 全球化 Take over 取代,接替,接管 Dominant 占主導地位的,有優勢的,占據統治地位的 Survival 存續,存活 |
|