Thedeathoflanguagesisnotanewphenomenon.Languagesusua...
问题详情:
The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a relatively short lifespan as well as a very high death rate. Only a few, including Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Latin, have lasted more than 2,000 years.
What is new, however, is the speed at which they are dying out. Europe’s colonial conquests caused a sharp decline in linguistic diversity, eliminating at least 15 percent of all languages spoken at the time. Over the last 300 years, Europe has lost a dozen, and Australia has only 20 left of the 250 spoken at the end of the 18th century.
The rise of nation-states has also been decisive in selecting and consolidating national languages and sidelining others. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media and the civil service, national governments have deliberately tried to eliminate minority languages.
This process of linguistic standardization has been boosted by industrialization and scientific progress , which have imposed new methods of communication that are swift, straightforward and practical. Language diversity came to be seen as an obstacle to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism became an ideal.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have intensified the threat to “small” languages. A language not on the Internet is a language that “no longer exists” in the modern world. It is out of the game.
The serious effects of the death of languages are evident. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural capacity for linguistic inventiveness. We would never be able to figure out the origins of human language or resolve the mystery of “the first language”. As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Multilingualism is the most accurate reflection of multiculturalism. The destruction of the first will inevitably lead to the loss of the second. Imposing a language without any links to a people’s culture and way of life stifles the expression of their collective genius. A language is not only used for the main instrument of human communication. It also expresses the world vision of those who speak it, their imagination and their ways of using knowledge. To safeguard languages is an urgent matter.
28. Which of the following does not contribute to the death of languages?
A. Colonial conquests of Europe. B. The boom of human population.
C. Advances in science and industrialization. D. The rise of nation-states.
29. The underlined word “stifles” in the last paragraph probably means “__________”.
A. boosts B. fuels C. imposes D. kills
30. The serious effects of the death of languages include all except that____________.
A. people would fail to understand how languages originated
B. language diversity would become an obstacle to globalization
C. monolingualism would lead to the loss of multiculturalism
D. human brains would become less creative linguistically
31. What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A. To explain the reasons why languages are dying out.
B. To warn people of the negative aspects of globalization.
C. To call people’s attention to the urgency of language preservation.
D. To argue how important it is for people to speak more languages.
【回答】
BDBC
知识点:*经济文化类阅读
题型:阅读理解
-
打秋千时,为使秋千越荡越高,人应有一个从直立到蹲下,又从蹲下到站直的过程.则打秋千时 A.人的机械能是守...
问题详情:打秋千时,为使秋千越荡越高,人应有一个从直立到蹲下,又从蹲下到站直的过程.则打秋千时 A.人的机械能是守恒的 B.人应在最低点站起来 C.人应在最高点站起来 D.人在最低点时失重【回答】C知识点:未分类题型:选择题...
-
某班抽取6名同学进行体育达标测试,成绩如下:80,90,75,80,75,80.下列关于对这组数据的描述错误的...
问题详情:某班抽取6名同学进行体育达标测试,成绩如下:80,90,75,80,75,80.下列关于对这组数据的描述错误的是( )A.众数是80 B.平均数是80 C.中位数是75 D.极差是15【回答】C知识点:数据的集中趋势题型:未分类...
-
已知铁的一种氧化物,其中含氧元素的质量分数为30%,则这种铁的氧化物的化学式为 ( ) A.FeO ...
问题详情:已知铁的一种氧化物,其中含氧元素的质量分数为30%,则这种铁的氧化物的化学式为()A.FeO B.Fe2O3C.Fe3O4 D.无法判断【回答】B知识点:金属的化学*质题型:选择题...
-
已知(1+ɑx)(1+x)5的展开式中x2的系数为5,则ɑ=( )A、-4 B、-...
问题详情:已知(1+ɑx)(1+x)5的展开式中x2的系数为5,则ɑ=( )A、-4 B、-3 C、-2 D、-1【回答】D知识点:计数原理题型:选择题...
相关文章
- “Lifeisspeedingup.Everyoneisgettingunwell.”Thismaysoun...
- 按要求完成下列各题。1.Readthedialogue.Canyouguessthemeaningof“ont...
- 单词1.HowlonghasthefamoussingerstayedinSuzhousincehe
- Teenshaveabusymorningscheduleastheyneedtowakeupandge...
- WhenIwas8,agentlemancametomyorphanage(孤儿院)andtaughtusho...
- ThegovernmentofNorwayisplanningtobuildanunusualstorage...
- 阅读并完成相关任务Shynessmeansfeelingnervousorfrightenedwhenyou’...
- Thedeathoflanguagesisnotanewphenomenon.Languagesusually...
- Ben,attheageof23,wastheyoungestmantoskisolototheNorthPo...
- 任务型阅读Doyouneedusefulandinterestingbooks?Herewe'vegotple...