2018公共英语考试阅读模拟：language

>>公共英语模拟题：2018公共英语考试阅读模拟：language

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When Carios Westez died at the age of 76, a language died, too. Westez, more commonly known as Red Thunder Cloud, was the last speaker of the Native American language Catawba. Anyone who wants to hear the songs of the Catawba can contact the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D . C . , where, back in the 19~0s, Red Thunder Cloud recorded a series of songs for future generations. 41 They are all that is left of the Catawba language. The language that people used to speak is gone forever.

We are all aware of the danger that modern industry can do to the world' s ecology ( 生态 ). However, few people are aware of the impact widely spoken languages have on other languages and ways of life. English has spread all over the world. Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi have become powerful languages as well. 42 When this happens, hundreds of languages that are spoken by only a few die out.

Scholars believe there are around 6,000 languages around the world, but more than half of them could die out within the next 100 years. There are many examples. Araki is the language of the island of Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is spoken by only a few older adults, so like Catawba, Araki will soon disappear. Many languages of Ethiopia will have the same fate because each one has only a few speakers. 43 In the Americas, 100 languages, each of which has

fewer than 300 speakers, are dying out. Red Thunder Cloud was one of the first to recognize the danger of language death and to try to do something about it. He was not actually bomb into the Catawba tribe, and the language was not his mother tongue. 44 The songs he sang for the Smithsonian Institution helped to make Native American music popular. Now he is gone, and the language is dead.

What does it mean for the rest of us when a language disappears? When a plant, insect, or animal species dies, it is easy to understand what has been lost and to appreciate what it means for the balance of the natural world. However, language is only a product of the mind. To be the last remaining speaker of a language, like Red Thunder, must be a peculiarly lonely destiny, almost as strange and terrible as being the last surviving member of a dying species. 45

参考译文

当凯瑞斯·威斯特76岁去世时，一门语言也消失了。威斯特俗称“红色雷电雨”，是说美国本土语言卡托巴的最后一个人。20世纪40年代.任何人想要听到卡托巴的各种歌曲可以联系在华盛顿哥伦比亚特区的史密森学会。“红色雷电雨”为未来几代人录制了一系列的歌曲。有些人可能用心想尝试学习一些歌曲。这些都是卡托巴语所留下的。人们曾用的语言永远消失了。

我们都意识到现代工业给世界生态带来的危险，但是却很少有人意识到被广泛使用的语言对其他语言和生活方式的影响。英语已经遍布世界，中文、西班牙语、俄语和印地语也已经成为强势的语种。随着这些语言变得日益强大，他们作为工具在商业和文化中的作用也会增强。当这一切发生时，成百上千种的稀有语言将会消失。

学者们认为，世界约有6000种语言，但是一半以上的语言可能在未来100年内消失。这已有太多的例子：阿拉基语是瓦努阿图小岛上人们使用的语言，该岛位于太平洋。只有很少年长者才会讲这种语言。和卡托巴语一样，阿拉基语很快就会消失;埃塞俄比亚的许多语言也会面临同样的命运，因为每一种语言只有极少数的人在使用。很少有人把这些语言当作母语。在美洲的100种语言中，每一种语言的使用者不超过300人。它们正在消失。

红色雷电云是第一个认识到语言消亡的危险并试图挽救的人。实际上。他并不是出生于卡托巴族，该语言也不是他的母语。然而，他是南卡罗来纳州卡托巴保护区的常客，在那里他学会了这种语言。他为史密森学会演唱歌曲使美国本土音乐得以流行。现在他走了，该语言也消失了。

一种语言消失对我们来说意味着什么?当一种植物、昆虫或动物死了，我们很容易明白它对自然界的平衡带来的损失以及它对自然界意味着什么。然而，语言只是思想的产物。像红色雷电云一样，作为最后一个掌握一门语言的幸存者，必定有着特别孤独的宿命，就如同某一物种

的唯一幸存者一样奇怪和可怕。而对于我们其他人来说，当一种语言消失。我们就失去了以其独特的方式观察和描述世界的可能性。

A.Some people might want to learn some of these songs by hearts.

B.Most languages have become less and less speakers.

C.However, he was a frequent visitor to the Catawba reservation in South Carcinoma where he learned the language.

D.These languages don't have many native speakers.

E.For the rest of us, when a language dies, we lose the possibility of a unique way of seeing and describing the world.

F.As these language become more powerful, their use as tools of business and culture increase, as well.

G.Papus New Guines is an extremely rich source of different language, but more than 100 of them are in danger of extinction(~).

根据以上内容，回答下列问题.

第41题答案是 ____

A【解析】空格前面提到他为后代录下了一系列的歌曲，接下来可以预期这样做的目的，即也许有人想要记住这些歌曲中的几首，前后内容连贯，故选A。

第42题答案是 ____

F 【解析】前面提到这些语言变得日益强势，既然语言是工具，可以断定他们在商业和文化中的工具性也会随之增强，所以选F。

第43题答案是 ____

D【解析】埃塞俄比亚的许多语言也将濒临灭绝，因为讲该语言的人非常少，而且没有人把它们当作母语来讲，此处的these languages指那些将要消失的语言，所以D正确。

第44题答案是 ____

C【解析】尽管他不是出生在卡托巴族部落，卡托巴语也不是他的母语，他却掌握了这门语言，原因在于他是Catawba reservation (卡托巴居留地)的常客，他在那里学会了这门语言，因此选C。

第45题答案是 ____

E【解析】作为一门语言的最后一个掌握者的确奇怪，令人感到可怕，选项E是对文章内容l的最后总结，即当一门语言消亡后，我们也失去了观察和描述世界的一种方式，所以E最合适。

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