Of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today, linguists (语言学家) say, nearly half are likely to disappear this century. In fact, one falls out of use about every two weeks.
Some languages die out in an instant, at the death of the only surviving speaker. Others are lost gradually in bilingual (双语的) cultures, as local tongues are edged out by the dominant (占主导地位的) language at school, in the marketplace and on television.
New research, supported by the National Geographic Society and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, has found the five regions where languages are disappearing most rapidly. They are northern Australia, central South America, North America's upper Pacific coastal zone, eastern Siberia, and Oklahoma and the southwestern United States.
K. David Harrison, an associate professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College, US, said that more than half the languages had no written form and were vulnerable to loss and being forgotten." Their loss leaves no dictionary, no text, or no record of the accumulated knowledge and history of a disappeared culture.
Harrison and other researchers started their rescue project last year. They have been trying to identify and record endangered languages. They interviewed and made recordings of the few remaining speakers of a language and collected basic word lists. The individual projects, some lasting three to four years, involve hundreds of hours of recording speech, developing grammar and preparing children's readers in the obscure (逐渐没落的) language. The research has concentrated on preserving entire language families.
"These are probably languages that cannot be brought back, but at least we made records of them," said Gregory Anderson, director of the Living Tongues Institute, in Oregon, US.What does the passage mainly tell us?
| A．Many languages are quickly disappearing. |
| B．Some languages are disappearing because they are hard to remember. |
| C．Chinese is one of the languages that are disappearing. |
| D．Thanks to some researchers, many endangered languages have been rescued. |
What does the word vulnerable in the fourth paragraph mean?
| A．easy to remember. | B．easy to forget. |
| C．likely to be damaged. | D．likely to be protected. |
Which of the following is true according to the fifth paragraph?
| A．Harrison and other researchers are trying to find out why some languages died out. |
| B．Harrison and other researchers tried to start a rescue project. |
| C．Harrison and other researchers have concentrated on preserving all the languages. |
| D．Harrison and other researchers have done some rescue work on the obscure languages. |
One of the things that Harrison and other researchers did was .
| A．to have more people speak the disappearing language |
| B．to make records of the disappearing language |
| C．to limit dominant languages |
| D．to publish a dictionary of the disappearing language |
What do you think is the suggested reason for some languages disappearing?
| A．Local tongues are gradually edged out by the dominant language at school, in the marketplace and on television. |
| B．The number of people who speak the languages are small. |
| C．There are no dictionaries for the languages. |
| D．No one make records of the languages, so they gradually disappear. |
Dear David,
I’m glad you would like to share your feelings with me. It’s hardly surprising that your feelings of not being “grown up” have come on strongly at this point in your life, just before you’re about to become a father. You are asking: will I make a good father? How will I deal with? Should I have brought another little person into the world? Can I provide for it? Help! I think nearly every sensitive about-to-be-parent must have these occasional feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy（不适）before the birth and it would be most unusual if you didn’t share them.
It’s difficult, honestly, to feel grown-up unless you have something less grown-up to relate to. The boss with a hen-pecking wife may feel like a seven-year-old when he’s at home. But as he walks through the office door, and knows he’s going to be surrounded by staff looking to him for advice, he grows into a fully mature（成熟的）man. And I think it’s a mistake to imagine that we all feel, as we age, a kind of progression of states, from the baby to the adult. Most people feel, on Tuesday, about three years old, and on a Wednesday, around 80. I remember feeling very grown-up at eight, a time when I was weighed down with responsibility. These days, much older, I can, in the company of people I feel at ease with, feel like a young girl.
There’s a common remark that “all men are little boys”, but it’s not true. It’s more true that men often behave like little boys. But nearly all people, at some moments in their lives, are able of great maturity.
Once your baby arrives, you’ll soon feel less childlike, or rather, less often. When your child tries to put its fingers into the electric plug, the adult in you will rise up to prevent it. You’ll see you have very little in common with a needy child, particularly if it’s looking to you for comfort and support.
Comfort yourself, David, with two truths. One is that your friends laugh when they talk about this subject because they, like you, feel frightened. And remember that people who haven’t grown up don’t go around talking about the fact that they don’t feel grown-up.
Hope my advice will be helpful and good luck to you and your little one.
Sincerely Yours,
Miss AdviceAccording to the passage, Miss Advice thinks David’s self-doubt _______.
| A．valuable | B．natural |
| C．unusual | D．bearable |
From Paragraph 2, we can learn that people’s sense of maturity _______.
| A．will increase with age |
| B．is obviously seen at home |
| C．changes with different situations |
| D．becomes stronger with familiar people |
Miss Advice holds the view that _______.
| A．all men always behave like little boys |
| B．men with a baby feel more grown-up |
| C．people tend to need comfort and support |
| D．people enjoy talking about their immaturity |
First Day at School
It was my first day at school in London and I was half-excited and half-frightened. On my way to school I wondered, what questions the other boys would ask me and practiced all the answers: "I am nine years old. I was born here but I haven't lived here since I was two. I was living in Farley. It's about thirty miles away. I came back to London two months ago." I also wondered if it was the rule for boys to fight strangers like me, but I was tall for my age. I hoped they would decide not to risk it.
No one took any notice of me before school. I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say "hello", but no one spoke to me.
My teacher was called Mr. Jones. There were 42 boys in the class, so I didn't stand out there, either, until the first lesson of the afternoon. Mr. Jones was very fond of Charles Dickens, so he asked several boys if they knew Dickens' birthplace, but no one guessed right. A boy called Brian, the biggest in the class, said: "Timbuktu” and Mr. Jones went red in the face. Then he asked me. I said: "Portsmouth” and everyone stared at me because Mr. Jones said I was right. This didn't make me very popular, of course. “He thinks he's clever," I heard Brian say.
After that, we went out to the playground to play football. I was in Brian's team, and he obviously had Dickens in mind because he told me to go in goal. No one ever wanted to be the goalkeeper.
"He's big enough and useless enough;" Brian said when someone asked him why he had chosen me.
As the boy kicked the ball hard along the ground to my right, I threw myself down quickly and saved it. All my team crowded round me. My bare knees were grazed and bleeding. Brian took out a handkerchief and offered it to me.
"Do you want to join my gang (team)?" he said.
At the end of the day, I was no longer a stranger. The writer prepared to answer all of the following questions EXCEPT "__________".
| A．How old are you? |
| B．Where are you from? |
| C．Do you want to join my gang? |
| D．When did you come back to London? |
We can learn from the passage that ___________________.
| A．boys were usually unfriendly to new students |
| B．the writer was not greeted as he expected |
| C．Brian praised the writer for his cleverness |
| D．the writer was glad to be a goalkeeper |
The underlined part "I didn't stand out" in paragraph 3 means that the writer was not ______.
| A．noticeable | B．nervous |
| C．important | D．outstanding |
The writer was offered a handkerchief because _________________.
| A．he was in Brian’s team |
| B．he was no longer a new comer |
| C．he was beginning to be accepted |
| D．he pushed a player on the other team |
Any introduction to Peking Opera would not be complete without telling of Mei Lanfang. During his stage life, he combined the traditions of the past with his own creations, shaping a style of his own and giving birth to “The Mei Lanfang School”. He was also the first artist to introduce Peking Opera to an overseas audience, making it popular to the world.
Mei Lanfang began his stage life at the age of 8. His teacher said he showed little hope because of his boring eyes. To improve this, he exercised them day after day. Thanks to his efforts, he managed to change his dull eyes into a pair of bright and expressive eyes and win national fame before the age of 20.
In over 50 years on the stage, Mei Lanfang played no less than 100 different characters in the performance. He also wrote many new plays, designing the dances himself. The many dances he created form part of the great treasure that he left to Peking Opera.
In 1930, Mei Lanfang started on a successful US tour. There his brilliant performances impressed the audience, making them realize that Peking Opera was a theatrical form of great value.Mei Lanfang was the first artist to introduce Peking Opera to ________.
| A．China | B．audience |
| C．the world | D．schools |
How long did it take Mei Lanfang to exercise his eyes into bright and expressive?
| A．About 8 years. | B．About 10 years. |
| C．About 12 years. | D．About 14 years. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．The history of Peking Opera. |
| B．Mei Lanfang’s early stage life. |
| C．The performance of Peking Opera by Mei Lanfang. |
| D．Mei Lanfang’s great contributions to Peking Opera. |
Make Up Your Mind to Succeed
Kind-hearted parents have unknowingly left their children defenseless against failure. The generation born between 1980 and 2001 grew up playing sports where scores and performance were played down because “everyone’s winner.” And their report cards sounded more positive (正面的) than ever before. As a result, Stanford University professor Carol Dweck, PhD, calls them “the overpraised generation.”
Dweck has been studying how people deal with failure for 40 years. Her research has led her to find out two clearly different mind-sets that have a great effect on how we react to it. Here’s how they work:
A fixed mind-set is grounded in the belief that talent (才能) is genetic – you’re a born artist, point guard, or numbers person. The fixed mind-set believes he’s sure to succeed without much effort and regards failure as personal shame. When things get difficult, he’s quick to blame, lie, and even stay away from future difficulties.
On the other hand, a growth mind-set believes that no talent is entirely heaven-sent and that effort and learning make everything possible. Because the ego (自尊) isn’t on the line as much, the growth mind-set sees failure as a chance rather than shame. When faced with a difficulty, he’s quick to rethink, change and try again. In fact, he enjoys this experience.
We are all born with growth mind-sets. (Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to live in the world.) But parents, teachers, and instructors often push us into fixed mind-sets by encouraging certain actions and misdirecting praise. Dweck’s book, Mind-set: The New Psychology of Success, and online instructional program explain this in depth. But she says there are many little things you can start doing today to make sure that your children, grandchildren and even you are never defeated by failure. What does the author think about the present generation?
| A．They don’t do well at school. | B．They are often misunderstood. |
| C．They are eager to win in sports. | D．They are given too much praise. |
A fixed mind-set person is probably one who ___ .
| A．doesn’t want to work hard |
| B．cares a lot about personal safety |
| C．cannot share his ideas with others |
| D．can succeed with the help of teachers |
What does the growth mind-set believe?
| A．Admitting failure is shameful. |
| B．Talent comes with one’s birth. |
| C．Scores should be highly valued. |
| D．Getting over difficulties is enjoyable. |
What should parents do for their children based on Dweck’s study?
| A．Encourage them to learn from failures. |
| B．Prevent them from making mistakes. |
| C．Guide them in doing little things. |
| D．Help them grow with praise. |
Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture (文化) the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion (困惑) across cultures. For example, many people in Russia smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian culture, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions (情感), but we should not attempt to “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as do members of another does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressions permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to generalize about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly. What does the smile usually mean in the U.S?
| A．Love. | B．Politeness. |
| C．Joy. | D．Thankfulness. |
The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ___ .
| A．show friendliness to strangers |
| B．be used to hide true feelings |
| C．be used in the wrong places |
| D．show personal habits |
What should we do before attempting to “read” people?
| A．Learn about their relations with others. |
| B．Understand their cultural backgrounds. |
| C．Find out about their past experience. |
| D．Figure out what they will do next. |
What would be the best title for the test?
| A．Cultural Differences | B．Smiles and Relationship |
| C．Facial Expressiveness | D．Habits and Emotions |