The world's native languages are dying out at an unprecedented(空前的) rate, taking with them irreplaceable(不能替代的) knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study.
The study identified five global "hot spots" where languages are vanishing faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. "Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction," linguistics(语言学的) professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world's 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century.
Native people had an intimate(详尽的) knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. "Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it's only in people's heads," he said. "We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base."
Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. "The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them," he said. "When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,‘This is a dying language, we need to learn it'." Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct.
The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues.What does this text mainly talk about?
| A．A study on native languages endangered. |
| B．The knowledge of native languages. |
| C．People's efforts in saving native languages |
| D．Harrison and his study on languages. |
According to Harrison, language extinction .
| A．causes the researchers lots of worries |
| B．speeds up the pace of species extinction |
| C．threatens the existing of Spanish and English |
| D．brings about a loss of knowledge about the environment |
Which of the following can be described as good news?
| A．Native languages became less endangered in Australia. |
| B．A man was found with knowledge of the Amurdag language. |
| C．Researchers were well received by native people in Australia. |
| D．Many schoolchildren showed interest in the Yawuru language. |
The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC has thousands of objects on display, including the 1903 Wright Flyer, Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia, and a lunar rock you can touch. In addition to our exhibition gallery, you may want to visit the Albert Einstein Planetarium, Lockheed Martin IMAX Theater, and the Public Observatory on the east end. There are many things to do at the Museum in DC. We offer daily tours and educational activities for both children and adults. We also have scheduled lectures and events throughout the year.
Hours and Admission: Open every day except December 25. Admission is free.
Regular Hours: 10:00 am to 5:30pm
Extended Hours: 10:00 am to 7:30pm
December 26---30, 2014 March 30---April 20, 2015
Friday and Saturdays, April 24---May 16, 2015 May 17---September 7, 2015
Visiting Tips: Limit the number of bags: All visitors are screened through metal detector upon entry. The fewer items you bring inside the Museum, the faster your entry. Before you visit, please review the list of prohibited items, which include pocket knives and tripods(三脚架). Visitors carrying prohibited items will not be allowed inside the Museum, so please leave them at home or in your car.
No Food or Drink: Only bottled water is permitted in the Museum. You may only consume food and other drinks in the Food and Drink Court, not in the Museum. Groups who bring food are encouraged to picnic on the National Hall.
Please Take Photos: You are welcome to take photos for personal use. However, tripods and monopods(单脚架) are not permitted without approval.
First Aid: The Museum has a First Aid office and a nurse on duty. Please contact the nearest security officer or the Welcome Center for assistance.
Visit the Welcome Center: At our Welcome Center in the South Lobby, staff and volunteers can answer any questions you have during your visit.
Open: 10:00am to 5:30 Phone: 202-666-2212
E-mail: NASM-visitorservice@si.eduAccording to the passage, the National Air and Space Museum is a place _______.
| A．where only adults can take part in some educational activities |
| B．where one can touch anything he likes |
| C．everyone can pay a visit to without buying tickets |
| D．everyone can visit without time limit all the year round. |
If the Greens plan to visit the Musuem at 6:00pm, it is accessible on _______.
| A．December 24, 2014(Wednesday) | B．March 1, 2015(Sunday) |
| C．September 15, 2015(Tuesday) | D．July 6, 2015(Monday) |
A visitor to the Museum can _______.
| A．get some medical treatment if he suddenly falls ill |
| B．take photos with tripods for personal use |
| C．bring fewer bags to go through metal detectors |
| D．eat and drink in the Museum or in the Food Court |
The purpose of this passage is to _______.
| A．attract people to explore the universe |
| B．make an advertisement for the Museum |
| C．encourage adults to bring their children here |
| D．show what is on display in the Museum |
If Confucius(孔子) were alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.
While many people in China remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.
But that doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.
In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up the drawbacks of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.
So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well.
Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.
As for the old thinker, he will not be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.The opening paragraph is mainly intended to _______.
| A．attract the readers’ interest in the subject |
| B．provide some key facts about Confucius |
| C．show great respect for the ancient thinker |
| D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations |
We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students _______.
| A．take an active part in Chinese competitions |
| B．try to get high scores in Chinese exams |
| C．fight for a chance to learn Chinese |
| D．have a great passion in studying Chinese |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Forgotten Wisdom in America. |
| B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language. |
| C．Old Thinker with a Big Future. |
| D．Chinese Culture for Westerners. |
The passage is likely to appear in ______.
| A．a biography | B．a history paper |
| C．a newspaper | D．a philosophy textbook |
Weekends are normally a time for shopping and last Saturday was no exception. My son Henry and I were shopping in a neighborhood market. Henry was busy weighing each new bag of vegetables I selected. I gave him a bag of potatoes and he walked over to the scale and waited in line. Suddenly, a man rushed over from behind, and stepped before him, hitting him out of the way. Henry looked shocked and scared. Seeing this I left my shopping cart and walked over to Henry, saying loudly, “Are you OK, honey? I saw what that man did to you. That was very, very wrong.”
When the man finished weighing his bag, his sudden turning around made all his onions fall to the ground. The three of us stood there, frozen for a moment. And then I bent down on my hands and knees and started collecting onions. After I handed the onions to the man, he accepted them and put them into his bag. After Henry and I picked up all the onions, the man walked away without saying anything. We didn’t discuss the event until we got back in the car.
On the way back home, Henry said through tears, “Mommy, I’ve a frustrating day. That man cut right in front of me. And we had to help him pick up his onions! Why did we do that? That didn’t make any sense!”
I took a deep breath and said, “Henry, that man seemed to have a very bad mood today. We should forgive him. I was also angry with the man for treating you rudely. I really wanted to kick him. But doing that doesn’t make any sense. If we hadn’t helped him, we might have felt good for a moment, but then I bet we would have felt really sorry for a long time. You and I have a lot of love to share. Maybe that man doesn’t have much. People who behave badly still need love.”
A cheerful smile appeared on Henry’s face. It was a smile of promise kept. It was the best smile I had ever seen. It was a good moment. It may have been my best mommy moment ever.What did the man do?
| A．He cut in the line. |
| B．He hit Henry on the head. |
| C．He hurried away without paying. |
| D．He ran into Henry suddenly. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The author was not angry at all with what the man had done. |
| B．The man was very sorry for what he had done to Henry. |
| C．At last, Henry learned a very valuable life lesson from the event. |
| D．Henry didn’t help the author pick up the onions for the man. |
Which of the following word can best describe the author?
| A．Narrow-minded. | B．Broad-minded. |
| C．Strong-willed. | D．Bad-tempered. |
“I never did hate the Yankees（北方佬）. All that I hated was the war...” That’s how my great-aunt Bettie began her story. I heard it many times as a child, whenever my family visited Aunt Bettie in the old house in Berryville, Virginia.
Bettie Van Metre had good reason to hate the Civil War. Her brother was killed at Gettysburg, and her husband, James, a Confederate（南方联盟军）officer, was taken prisoner and sent to an unknown prison camp somewhere.
One day in late September, Dick came to Bettie reporting that he had found a wounded Union soldier in a farmhouse half a mile away from the Van Metre home. When talking about her first sight of the man in the blood-spotted blue uniform, she always used the same words. “It was like walking into a nightmare: those awful bandages, that terrible smell.” She went out into the cool air, trying not to be sick at the thought of that smashed right hand, that missing left leg.
The man’s papers Bettie found in the farmhouse showed his identity: Henry Bedell, 30 years old. She knew that she should report the presence of this Union officer to the Confederate army, but she wouldn’t. This is how she explained it: “I kept wondering if he had a wife somewhere, hoping, and not knowing—just as I was. It seemed to me that the only thing that mattered was to get her husband back to her.”
Slowly, patiently, skillfully, Aunt Bettie fanned the spark of life in Henry Bedell. Of drugs or medicines she had almost none. And she was not willing to take any from the few supplies at the Confederate hospital. But she did the best she could with what she had.
The October nights in the valley grew cold. With the help of Dick and his wife, she moved the Union officer at night, to a hidden room above the warm kitchen of her own home. But the next day, Bedell had a high fever. Knowing that she must get help, she went to her family doctor, Graham Osborne. Dr. Osborne examined Bedell and said, “there was little hope unless proper medicines could be found.”
“I’ll get them from the Yankees at Harpers Ferry.” Bettie said. The doctor told her that Harpers Ferry was almost 20 miles away. Even if she reached them, the Yankees would never believe her. “I’ll take proof,” Bettie said. She found a blood-spotted paper bearing the official War Department seal （印章）. “When I show it, they’ll believe me.”
Early the next morning she set off with a list of medical items. For five hours she drove, stopping only to rest her horse. The sun was almost down when she finally stood before the general at Harpers Ferry. The general listened, but did not believe her. “Madam,” he said, “Bedell’s death was reported to us.” “He’s alive,” Bettie insisted. “But he won’t be much longer unless he has the medicines on that list.” “Well,” the general turned to a junior officer, “see that Mrs. Van Metre gets the supplies.”
With the medicines, Bedell gradually recovered. Ten days later he was walking with sticks. “I’d better go back as soon as possible.” Bedell told Bettie. So it was arranged that Dick should help Bettie deliver Bedell to Harpers Ferry in his wagon. Bedell lay down in a box filled with hay, his rifle and sticks beside him.
At Harpers Ferry, the soldiers were amazed when the Union officer with the missing leg rose from his hay-filled box. Bedell told the story to Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, who wrote a letter of thanks to Bettie and signed an order to free James Van Metre. It was arranged for Bedell to go with Bettie as she searched for her husband. Records showed that a James Van Metre had been sent to a prison camp in Ohio. Then at Fort Delaware, near the end of the line of prisoner, a tall man stepped out and walked clumsily into Bettie’s arms. Bettie held him, tears streaming down her face. And Henry Bedell, standing by on his sticks, wept, too.What might be Bettie’s tone when she used the underlined sentence to describe the first sight of Henry Bedell？
| A．Pessimistic | B．Desperate | C．Shocked | D．Sympathetic. |
Why wouldn’t Bettie report the presence of Bedell to the Confederate army.
| A．Because she felt it her responsibility to save soldiers of the Union. |
| B．Because she wanted to save Bedell so that her husband could be freed. |
| C．Because Bedell was more a suffering human being than an enemy to Bettie. |
| D．Because Bedell begged Bettie not to give him away to the Confederate army. |
Dr. Osborn thought it was ______ of Bettie Van Metre to drive to Harpers Ferry for the medicines.
| A．crazy | B．kind | C．brave | D．smart |
.Still recovering, Henry Bedell decided to leave as soon as possible mainly because ______.
| A．he was eager to return to the Union to fight |
| B．he didn’t want to go on putting Bettie in danger |
| C．he was concerned about his safety at the Van Metre home |
| D．he could be treated with better medicines back at Harpers Ferry |
Rearrange the following statements in terms of time order.
a. Bettie’s husband was found and freed.
b. Bettie helped deliver Bedell back to Harpers Ferry.
c. Bettie moved Bedell to a safe room in her own house.
d. Bettie drove all the way to Harpers Ferry to get the medicines for Bedell.
e. In spite of being short of medicines, Bettie attended to Bettie with what she had.
f. Bettie saw Bedell in a farmhouse half a mile away from her house for the first time.
| A．f, e, c, b, d, a | B．f, c, e, d, b, a |
| C．f, e, c, d, b, a. | D．f, c, e, b, d, a |
What message is conveyed through the end of the story.
| A．Giving is a reward in itself. |
| B．Happiness comes from giving. |
| C．God helps those who help themselves. |
| D．Help yourself by helping others |
Some American high schools are for students with special interests, like science or the arts. New York City even has a program for those interested in the food service industry, called Food and Finance High School.
New York also has what are called international high schools, or internationals, for immigrant students. They must be new learners of English who have been in the United States less than four years. The first school opened in nineteen eighty-five. The city will begin the new term next month with ten.
New York works with a nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools. Support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has helped the network expand. The network says the graduation rate was seventy percent last year in the four New York schools open long enough to have graduating classes. That, compared with twenty-three percent for English language learners in all of the city schools.
Over all, New York officials recently reported that the city’s four-year graduation rate, reached fifty-two percent last year. At the same time, they reported that the city’s dropout rate fell below fifteen percent. The Internationals Network says its schools have an average dropout rate of just five percent.
Claire Sylvan is the executive director of the group. She says students drop out mainly because their families need them to work or because parents arrange marriages for girls.
The Internationals Network mainly helps find teachers and trains them in the teaching method of the internationals. Claire Sylvan says the teaching approach is to have students use their different strengths to help each other. They work in small groups, but she says they are not grouped by ability. She says the students discuss issues, then produce a product like a paper, a play, a poster or a report. They learn English as they work.The international high school in New York is __________
| A．for immigrant students with special interests |
| B．for new immigrant students who have been living in New York less than four years |
| C．for new learners of foreign language from around the world |
| D．for new young learners of English language living in the US less than four years |
The international high schools in New York _______
| A．have been opened for less than 20 years and set a good example |
| B．can bring great profit for the Internationals Network for Public Schools |
| C．will expand from having one school to having ten |
| D．have given great support to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |
Which of the following shows the graduation rate of the schools of the International Networks last year in the four New York schools?
One of the reasons why some students drop out of school is that _____.
| A．their parents can’t afford to pay for the education |
| B．they have to help their parents with the work |
| C．girls are forced to make money for their families |
| D．they have trouble in passing all kinds of exams |
Claire Sylvan would agree with all the following statements EXCEPT _____.
| A．with the help of the network, the students can find right teachers. |
| B．students use their different strengths to help each other |
| C．students can be divided into different classes according to their ability |
| D．students can discuss with each other and finish their work by themselves |