Languageshavebeencomingandgoingforthousandsofyears,but...

問題詳情：

 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(聯繫) 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.

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 globalisation 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.

At present, the world has about 6,800 languages. 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 a mere 6，000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.

Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages 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 Apache in 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.

97．What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?

A．They developed very fast.                           B．They were large in number.

C．They had similar patters.                             D．They were closely connected

98．Which of the following best explains "dominant" underlined in paragraph 2？

A．Complex.                                                  B．Advanced.

C．Powerful.                                                  D．Modern.

99．How many languages are spoken by less than 6, 000 people at present?

A．About 6,800 .                                            B．About 3,400

C．About 2,400                                              D．About 1,200.

100．What is the main idea of the text?

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.

【回答】

97．B

98．C

99．B

100．C

【分析】

本文是一篇説明文。文章講述了隨着社會的發展人類語言越來越少及其原因。

97．推理判斷題。根據文章第一段中的When the world was still populated by hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit (聯繫) groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other... when the world had just five to ten million people, they spoke perhaps 12,000 languages between them.可知，當世界以依靠狩獵為生的人組成的時候，小而聯繫緊密的羣落形成了他們彼此之間*的講話模式……當世界上的人口數量不到一千萬時，語言種類達到了12,000種。由此推知，當時的語言種類很多。故選B。

98．猜測詞義題。根據文章第二段中的dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.可知，英語、西班牙語和漢語正在快速替代其他語言。由此推知dominant languages意為“強有力的語言”。故選C。

99．細節理解題。根據文章第三段中的At present, the world has about 6,800 languages.和The median number (中位數) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the world’s languages are spoken by fewer people than that. 可知，目前世界上大約有6800種語言，但是講的人數少於6000人的佔一半即3400。故選B。

100．主旨要義題。根據文章第一段中的主題句Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going.可知，語言的產生和消失進行了幾千年，但最近語言產生的少，消失的太多。故選C。

點睛：長難句解讀

In recent centuries, trade, industrialisation, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation 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.

分析：dominant前的and連接兩個並列句，all和前面的名詞短語trade, industrialisation, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation and better communications是同位語。

句意：在最近的幾個世紀，貿易、工業化、民族國家的發展和全球義務教育的普及，尤其是過去幾十年來，全球化和更好的交流，這些都導致許多語言消失。而且像英語、西班牙語和漢語等主流語言正日益佔據主導地位。

知識點：語言學習

題型：閲讀理解