As more and more people speak the global languages of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die out by the next century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations- UNESCO and National Geographic among them –have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center, Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi with an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, looking and raising a family in a village in Nepal.
Documenting the Tangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayans reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials- including photographs, films, tap recordings, and field notes- which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection.
Now, through the two organizations that he has founded-the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project- Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, found in libraries and stores around the world, available not just to scholars but to the youngers.
Generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected.Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet. Turin notes,the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.Many scholars are making efforts to _____.
| A．promote global languages |
| B．rescue the disappearing languages |
| C．search for language communities |
| D．set up languages research organizations. |
What does “that tradition” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．Having first records of the languages |
| B．Writing books on language searching |
| C．Telling stories about language users |
| D．Linking with the native speakers |
What is Turin’s book based on?
| A．The cultural statics in India. |
| B．The documents available at Yale. |
| C．His language research in Britain. |
| D．His personal experience in Nepal. |
Which of the following best describe Turin’s Work?
| A．Write sell and donate. |
| B．Record,repeat and reward. |
| C．Collect,protect and reconnect. |
| D．Design, experiment and report. |
Mobile phones have become a problem for middle schools. Some middle schools in Australia have prevented students from carrying mobile phone during school hours.
Mobile phone use among children has become a problem for the school this year. Several children have got mobile phones as Christmas gifts, and more students will want them.
Mary Bluett, an official, said mobile phone use is a distraction(伤心的事) to students d
uring school hours and it also gives teachers so much trouble in their classrooms. Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to cheat during exams.
She said some schools had tried not to let students use mobile phones at school. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t get in touch with their children.
Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school, but if there was a good reason, they could leave their phones at school offices. They also said there were many reasons why the students should not have mobile phones at school. They were easy to lose and were a distraction from studies.
Many people say that they understood why parents would want their children to have mobile phones, but they think schools should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.Middle schools are prevented from carrying mobile phones .
| A．because they often talk with their friends | B．when they are free from homework |
| C．when they are at school | D．because they cheat in exams |
Some children get mobile phones .
| A．by telling lies to their parents | B．by making trouble in class |
| C．from their parents and friends | D．from some mobile phone users |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．No school in Australia has done anything about the mobile phone use among students. |
| B．Teachers don’t allow the students to leave their mobile phones at school offices. |
| C．Some students had their mobile phones stolen at school. |
| D．Parents give their children mobile phones for no good reason. |
It is implied（暗含） in the passage that .
| A．students shouldn’t have mobile phones at school except for some special reasons |
| B．it is impossible to stop students from using mobile phone at school |
| C．some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t use their phones at school |
D．parents should teach their children how to use mobile phones during school hours |
One day, Wilson was walking quietly along the road when someone hit him hard on the back of his neck. He looked behind him, and saw a young man whom he had never seen before.
“How dare you hit me like that?” shouted Wilson.
The young man said he had mistaken Wilson for a friend of hi
s and that he thought Wilson was making a lot of noise about nothing.
This insult(侮辱) made Wilson even angrier, of course, and he at once decided to bring the young man before a judge.
Now , the judge who heard the case was a friend of the young man’s father’s, and, although he pretended to be quite fair, he was thinking about what he could do to protect the yo
ung man from being punished while at the same time not to be appearing unfair.
Finally he said to Wilson, “I understand your feelings in this matter very well. Would you be satisfied if I let you hit the young man as he hit you?”
Wilson said he would not be. The young man had insulted him and should be properly punished.
“Well, then,” said the judge to the young man, “I order you to pay ten coins to Wilson.”
Ten coins was very little for such a crime, but the young man did not have it with him, so the judge allowed him to go and get it.
Wilson waited for him to return with the money. He waited an hour, and then two hours, while the judge took care of other business.
When it was nearly time for the court to close, Wilson chose a moment when the judge was especially busy, came up quietly and hit him hard on the back of the neck. Then he said to him, “I am sorry, but I can’t wait any longer. When the young man comes back, tell him that I have passed my right to the ten coins on to you.”Why did the young man hit Wilson from behind?
| A．Wilson had hit him before. | B．He had mistaken Wilson for a friend of his. |
| C．Wilson was a stranger there. | D．Wilson made a lot of noise when he was walking. |
The judge thought about how to protect the young man because .
| A．he thought it a small matter | B．as a judge, he should be fair |
| C．he thought the man too young to be punished | D．the young man was his friend’s son |
According to the passage, while of the following is TRUE?
A．The young man was or dered to hit himself as hard as he had done on Wilson . |
| B．Wilson was allowed to hit the young man as hard as he had done. |
| C．Wilson was allowed to do more insulting on the young man. |
| D．The young man was ordered to hand a lot of money to Wilson. |
The judge allowed the young man to go home, hoping .
| A．he would not return any more | B．he could escape from there |
| C．he would return in two hours | D．he would get the money |
The be
st title for this passage is .
| A．I’ve passed my right on to you | B．The judge and Wilson |
| C．Wilson and the young man | D．The young man was set free |
It was several years since Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany. And now his army was marching into some parts of Europe. He must be in the prime(顶峰) of his career.
One day Hitler went to an exhibition where the works of school children were on show. He seemed to have great interest in the exhibits—inventions as well as carvings, drawings. After having walked around the hall and examined everything, he said he was re
ady to meet the young artists. And soon a group of children came into the room to salute(向-----敬礼) him.
“Well, well. You did very good work.” nodded Hitler in satisfaction. “I promise on my honor I’d satisfy you with whatever you want. What’d you wish to be if I were your father?”
“A sailor sailing the sea” one of the boys answered.
“Good. I’ll have you join my navy and some day you will rule the oceans.”(海洋)
“Ask for anything? What’d you wish to be if I were your father?” he asked a second boy.
“A painter as great as Rembruant.”
“Good. You are to be sent to the Fine Art School and surely you will make an even greater painter.”
When Hitler caught sight of a sad-looking boy be frowned(皱眉), then quickly forced a smile, “The
re my boy, in spite of my point of view towards the Jews(犹太人), I’d do you a favor and your dream will come true. What’d you wish to be if I were your father?”
The boy looked straight at the man.
“An orphan(the child who has no parents).” he murmured.（嘟哝） Hitler promised to satisfy(满足) the children with whatever they want because .
| A．he wanted all the children to live a happy life | B．he wanted to make a good impression on the children |
| C．he liked paintings very much | D．he liked all the children |
Hitler frowned when he saw the sad-looking boy because .
| A．the boy was recognized to be a Jew | B．the boy didn’t come to the front to salute him |
| C．the boy didn’t want to ask for anything | D．the boy was sad-looking |
Judging by what the boy said we can see that .
| A．the boy’s parents had died | B．the boy had no brothers or sisters |
| C．the boy hated Hitler very much | D．the boy wanted himself to be an orphan |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Hitler wanted to be the father of the children. | B．The boy was both clever and courageous(勇敢的). |
| C．Rembruant was a great painter. | D．Hitler did not like Jews. |
I began to grow up that winter night when my parents and I were returning from my aunt’s house, and my mother said that we might soon be leaving for America. We were on the bus then. I was crying, and some people on the bus were turning around to look at me. I remember that I could not bear the thought of never hea
ring again the radio program for school children to which listened every morning. I do not remember myself crying for this reason again. In fact, I think I cried very little when I was saying goodbye to my friends and relatives. When we were leaving, I thought about all the places I was going to see—the strange and magical places I had known only from books and pictures. The country I was leaving never to come back was hardly in my head then.
The four years that followed taught me the importance of optimism(乐观主义), but the idea did not come to me at once. For the first two years in New York I was really lost—having to study in three schools as a
result of family moves. I did not quite know what I was or what I should be. Mother remarried, and things became even more complex for me. Some time passed before my stepfather and I got used to each other. I was often sad, and saw no end to “the hard times”.
My responsibilities(职责) in the family increased a lot since I knew English better than everyone else at home. I wrote letters, filled out forms, translated at interviews with i
mmigration officers, took my grandparents to the doctor and translated there, and even discussed telephone bills with company representatives.
From my experiences I have learned one important rule: almost all common troubles ev
entually go away! Something good is certain to happen in the end when you do not give up, and just wait a little! I believe that my life will turn out all right, even though it will not be that easy. How did the author get to know America?
| A．From her relatives. | B．From her mother. | C．From books and pictures. | D．From radio programs. |
For the first two years in New York, the author. .
| A．often lost her way | B．did not think about her job  |
| C．studied in three different schools | D．got on well with her new friends |
What can we learn from the author from Paragraph 3 ?
A．She  worked as a translator. |
B．She attended a lot of job interviews. |
| C．She paid telephone bills for her family . | D．She helped her family with her English. |
The author believes that.
| A．her future will be free from troubles . | B．it is difficult to learn to become patient. |
| C．there are more good things than bad things. | D．good things will happen if one keeps trying. |
On April twenty-second, some American children stayed out of school but they were not punished. They were with their parents. As Faith Lapidus tells us, it was Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.
The Ms. Foundation for Women started the program seventeen years ago, in 1993. At first it was just called Take Our Daughters to Work. Gloria Steinem and other foundation leaders pointed to studies showing that self-image suffers as girls become teenagers. They can lose trust in their abilities and intelligence, especially in areas like science, math and technology. So the Ms. Foundation planned a day for parents in New York City to show girls all the possibilities for them in the professional world. But there was so much interest, the organizers decided to make it national.
At first, girls mostly followed their mom or dad around at work to learn about their jobs. Later, employers and schools began to offer organized activities. But from the beginning there were protests(反对) from parents and others about the exception of boys. So in 2003 the day was renamed Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work.
2007 was the last year that the Ms. Foundation for Women headed the program. Now, the event is run by a twelve-person group called the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.
The event is connected with Mattel, the company that makes Barbie dolls.
Carolyn McKecuen is president of the foundation. She says a total of about thirty-three million children and adults are involved in the program. About one-third of the adults work at large companies or nonprofit organizations. Another third are in small businesses. The rest work in education.
Carolyn McKecuen says the numbers from this year's event are not final yet. But early reports suggest that participation was up at least ten percent from last year. And she says the foundation is hoping to find support to expand the program internationally. She says there are lots of requests from other countries for information about how to set up similar programs.It was called Take Our Daughters to Work at first because ______.
| A．girls are considered to be clever than boys |
| B．girls are considered to be more foolish than boys |
| C．girls aren’t confident in some areas as they becomes older |
| D．girls don’t want to learn some science subjects |
Why was the day renamed as Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day later?
| A．Because some parents were against only girls’ having the chance. |
| B．Because some parents wouldn’t like to take their daughters to work. |
| C．Because some employers were against parents’ taking their children to work. |
| D．Because some schools didn’t want to give any students’ time to leave school. |
How many years did the Ms. Foundation for Women head the program?
| A．17 | B．18 | C．14 | D．10 |
From this passage we can learn ______.
| A．April twenty-second is a day for some American children to stay out of school for punishment |
| B．the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is a national in America |
| C．Mattel is the president of the foundation whose company makes Barbie dolls |
| D．Lots of other countries want to set up similar programs for parents and children |
The last paragraph shows that ______.
| A．the program becomes more and more welcome |
| B．the program will come an end without international support |
| C．the program has been copied by many other countries |
| D．Carolyn McKecuen wants more and more children to take part in the program |