题目内容

It is not unusual for people to speak two or three languages; they’re known as bilinguals or trilinguals. Speakers of more than three languages are known as polyglots. And when we refer to people who speak many languages, perhaps a dozen or more, we use the term hyper-polyglot.

The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.

Did Mezzofanti have an extraordinary brain? Or are hyper-polyglots just ordinary people with ordinary brains who manage to do something extraordinary through hard work?

U.S. linguist Stephen Drashen believes that outstanding language learners just work harder at it and then they acquire unusually strong language ability. As an example, he mentions a Hungarian woman who worked as an interpreter during the 20th century. When she was 86, she could speak 16 languages and was still working on learning new languages. She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.

Some researchers argue to the contrary. They believe that there is such a thing as a talent for learning languages. In the 1930s, a German scientist examined parts of the preserved brain of a hyper-polyglot named Emil Krebs, who could speak 60 languages fluently. The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language. However, we still don’t know if Krebs was born with a brain ready to learn dozens of languages or if his brain adapted to the demands he put on it.

Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it.

1.What does the underlined sentence imply?

A. Mezzofanti could remember 360 words a day.

B. Mezzofanti had a special way to learn languages.

C. Mezzofanti’s achievement was ridiculous.

D. Mezzofanti language ability was astonishing.

2.The Hungarian woman became a hyper-polyglot mainly because of her __.

A. good memory       B. unique brain      C. hard work      D. learning methods

3.The German scientist’s findings showed that Krebs ___.

A. had an unusual brain

B. was born with great talent

C. had worked hard at languages

D. expected too much of himself

4.The author seems to agree that ___.

A. it is not hard to learn foreign languages

B. hard work plays a part in language learning

C. there is no such thing as a talent for languages

D. hyper-polyglots have an inborn talent for language

 

【答案】

 

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

试题分析:文章介绍了人在学习语言存在的一些现象,有些人能撑握很多种语言,文中举了两个例子Giuseppe Mezzofanti spoke 72 languages. Emil Krebs spoke 60 languages.有两种观点来解释这种现象。一种是有这种学习语言的天赋;他们天生善于学习语言,在大脑部分有不同于常人的地方。另一种情况是他们在学习语言方面很刻苦,他们的大脑和普通人是一样的。善于学习语言的人的大脑是否和普通人一样还不够清晰,但每个人用心去学习三四种语言都是不难的。

1.D细节理解题。The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.句意为:Giuseppe Mezzofanti 是十九世纪的意大利人,能说七十二种语言,听起来有点我荒谬,如果你假定每种语言有两万个单词,那么Mezzofanti不得不一分种记一个单词,每天六个小时,也要十一年的时间,是一件不可能的任务。所以他感觉这种学习语言的能力是令人吃惊的。

2.C细节理解题。She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.句意思为:她(The Hungarian woman)她学习语言大多都是靠她自己,读小说,看词典或者是练习本等,所以此处应是通过努力的工作而学到的。故答案应为C。

3.A细节理解题。The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language.科学家发现,他的大脑叫着Broca’s area的部分和语言有关,说一种语言的人的这个大脑部分与Krebs’的这个部分是不同的,所以答案应为A。有一种不同寻常的电脑。

4.B大意理解题。Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it. 句意为:尽管学习语言的能力与先天是否有关还不是很清楚,但毫无疑问,通过我们的用心学习,我们大多数都能够撑握二种三种甚至是四种语言。故答案应为B。

【考点】考查社会现象类文章的阅读理解。

 

练习册系列答案
相关题目

There is one difference between the sexes on which every expert and study agrees: men are more aggressive than women. It shows up in 2-year-olds. It continues through school days and persists into adulthood. It is even constant across cultures. And there is little doubt that it is rooted in biology.
If there's a woman’s trait(特点) which is the same as men’s aggressiveness, it's what social scientists refer to as the result of "education". Feminists have argued that the caring nature of women is not biological in origin, but rather has been forced into women by a society that wanted to keep them in the home. But the signs that it is at least partly inborn are too numerous to ignore. Just as tiny infant girls respond more readily to human faces, female toddlers(学步者) learn much faster than males how to pick up nonverbal cues(非言语暗示) from others. And grown women are far more skilful than men at interpreting facial expressions: A recent study by University of Pennsylvania brain researcher Ruben Gur showed that they easily read emotions such as anger, sadness and fear. The only such emotion men could pick up was disgust.
  What difference do such differences make in the real world? Among other things, women appear to be somewhat less competitive--or at least competitive in different ways--than men. At the Harvard Law School, for instance, female students enter with qualities just as outstanding as those of their male peers. But they don' t qualify for the well-known Law Review in proper numbers, a fact some school officials owe to women' s discomfort in the incredibly competitive atmosphere.
  Students of management styles have found fewer differences than they expected between men and women who reach leadership positions, perhaps because many successful women deliberately imitate men. But an analysis by Purdue social psychologist Alice Eagly of 166 studies of leadership style did find one difference: Men tend to be more “autocratic”-making decisions on their own--while women tend to consult colleagues more often.  Studies of behavior in small groups turn up even more differences. Men will typically dominate the discussion, says University of Toronto psychologist Kenneth Dion, spending more time talking and less time listening.
【小题1】The passage mainly discusses__________.
           

A.how sex differences are demonstrated in social relations
  
B.how hormone determines sex differences
  
C.why there are differences between males and females
  
D.why men and women have different social roles
【小题2】Which of the following is true of women's nurturing nature according to the passage?
A.It is not inborn in any sense.
B.It is inspired by women’s families.
C.It is caused by social prejudice.
D.It is partly biological in origin.
【小题3】The Harvard Law School example in paragraph 3 suggests that_________.
A.women are not as competitive as men
B.law is not the fight profession for women
C.women are as excellent as men when they are young
D.academic qualities are not equal to performance
【小题4】Which of the following statement is true according to paragraph 4?
A.Men leaders should consult colleagues and subordinates more often.
B.Female leaders' success is due to their imitating male leaders.
C.Men and women are different in their leadership style.
D.Decisiveness is an important quality for a successful politician.
【小题5】It can be inferred from the passage that the writer_________.
A.denies the difference sexes make in real life
B.is prejudiced against men
C.discourages women to be competitive
D.treats sex difference objectively

When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory , Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
【小题1】What is the function of the first paragraph?

A.Leading the following paragraphs.
B.Showing the main idea of the passage.
C.Introducing the background of the passage.
D.Giving a summary of the passage.
【小题2】Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
A.is weaker thanB.is stronger thanC.is better thanD.is worse than
【小题3】What can we learn from the passage?
A.Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B.When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C.A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D.Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
【小题4】Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A.Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B.Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C.Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior,and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D.Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own
【小题5】What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A.How to decide whether an ant is dead or not.
B.Why ants have special chemicals on their bodies.
C.reasons for the removable behavior of ants.
D.How ants manage to keep their nests clean.

“Why should I care about the environment?” some people ask. There is a very simple reason: We live on the earth, and it is the only place we can live on right now, as we cannot live in space yet. If we treat the earth like a garbage dump, it will become dirty and unlivable. If we treat it well by being eco-conscious, the earth will stay clean and suitable for living, for ourselves and for our children.
What is “being eco-conscious”?
Being eco-conscious means being aware of your actions, and what you do to the environment. For example, you might think, “Using hairspray is great for fixing my hair.” However, if you are eco-conscious, you would ask, “Does this hairspray have CFCs in it? Could I be destroying the earth by using hairspray?”
How can I be eco-conscious?
You can find many simple ways to help the environment in your everyday life.
When you go shopping, bring a bag or a basket with you. Please try not to use plastic bags as much as you can.
You can go to work by bike or on foot if it is not far from your home.
You can put your rubbish into different bags, which makes it convenient for recycling.
You can eat less chewing gum.
You can use your own chopsticks instead of the disposable ones in your company or in restaurants.
You can put batteries in a special box instead of in garbage bins.
You can use the water which has been used for washing vegetables or fruits to clean the floor and the toilet or to water your garden.
You can turn off the decorative lights in your room when watching TV.
You can turn down your air conditioner by one degree, as this will cause a 10% reduction in energy use.
You can use recycled paper. Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil. You can also use recycled glass instead of glass made from raw materials. This will reduce the related air pollution by 20%, and the related water pollution by 50%.
Please believe that. If you do a little, it will make a big difference.
【小题1】Human beings should care about the environment because _________ .

A.if we make the earth unlivable, we’ll have to live in space
B.it can help our children live better
C.if we don’t, the earth will become a garbage dump
D.it will help to make the world a good living place
【小题2】If your deskmate is an eco-conscious person, he should __________.
A.be aware of the importance of protecting the environment
B.use plastic bags when he buys something
C.know nothing about CFCs
D.turn his air conditioner to a higher degree
【小题3】If you want to help the environment, you should do all the following EXCEPT ________.
A.share a car with your colleagues
B.use paper bags instead of plastic bags
C.use hairspray containing CFCs
D.use recycled glass instead of glass made from raw materials
【小题4】It can be inferred from the passage that _________.
A.it’s very hard for human beings to keep the earth clean and comfortable
B.protecting the environment is the duty of everybody
C.we should protect the environment together, as it’s no use doing it individually
D.it’s very easy to be eco-conscious
【小题5】According to the author, which of the following statements is WRONG?
A.Being eco-conscious means you should know much about the environment.
B.The more we care, the better the environment will be.
C.If each of us just does a little, we can’t make any difference.
D.If we treat the earth badly, we’ll make a lot of trouble for ourselves.

I have never heard about a “Fashion Week” outside of New York, London or Milan. But then one just happens to turn up in Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. Actually, I’m ignorant of all those countries in Central Asia, whose names are always ending in “stan.” For decades, even centuries, Central Asia has been out of focus, a blank on the map of empires. Just as the introduction from Turusbek Mamashov, from the Tourism agency of the president of the Kyrgyz Republic, says, “Throughout this Fashion Week project, we need to create a revolution in the minds of our people, preparing the country for the international tourism market. It is an opportunity as well as an investment.” What he says is right. If you just give it a glimpse (一瞥), you’ll find out that the flavor (风情) of the Silk Road is still there.
As part of the route for Silk Road traders and migrating tribes through its epic(史诗的) history, Kyrgyzstan, like other Central Asian countries, is a vast place of desert, grassland and mountain ranges. It is not widely known that Kyrgyzstan is the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai’s birthplace.
Bishkek, the place holding Fashion Week, is the capital and industrial center of independent Kyrgyzstan. It is a relaxed, handsome place with wide streets and large amounts of greenery. Especially in the autumn of November, the yellow leaves falling everywhere make the whole city a legend in fall. The mountains are just at its rear, in that case a unique scene of picturesque beauty is composed by snow-white peaks, lakes and the urban Landscape.
Today, Ala-Too Square is the center of the poetic places worth seeing in Bishkek. The “White House,” the seat of the Kyrgyzstan Government, is just at the west of the square. Behind this is Panfilov Park, a great place to head for a national holiday. The State Museum of Fine Arts is opposite, which is also called the Gapar Aitiev Museum of Applied Arts, featuring Kyrgyz jewelry, rugs and works by local artists.
One of the joys besides the scenery is the openness of the people. Bishkek is a city without a big population but mainly good-natured people from many races, 47 percent are Russian and about a third are Kyrgyz. Most travelers vote Kyrgyzstan as the most appealing, accessible and welcoming of the former Soviet Central Asian republics. It is written by a tourist that Kyrgyzstan is the country Russians most desperately want to keep: hills always covered with grass and wild flowers. Kyrgyz men always ride a horse wearing a photogenic hat.
【小题1】   According to the passage, Kyrgyzstan used to be ___________.

A.an international fashion centreB.an important part of Silk Road
C.the focus of the worldD.a vast desert land in Central Asia
【小题2】   The Fashion Week in Bishkek is supposed to __________.
A.start a revolution in KyrgyzstanB.attract foreign investment to Kyrgyzstan
C.promote tourism in KyrgyzstanD.celebrate the independence of Kyrgyzstan
【小题3】   Which of the statements is NOT ture according to the passage?
A.Bishkek is a crowded modern city surrounded by mountain ranges.
B.Panfilov Park is a popular destination for local people during holidays.
C.The majority of the population in Bishkek are Russian and Kyrgyz.
D.The famous poet Li Bai is thought to have been born in Kyrgyzstan.
【小题4】   What is the most important message the author wants to convey in the passage?
A.Reflections and thoughts on the glorious history of the Silk Road.
B.Feelings about the ongoing Fashion Week project in Bishkek.
C.The geographic features and imposing history of Kyrgyzstan.
D.The natural and cultural characteristics and attractions in Kyrgyzstan.

Like most big projects, learning to manage your mother well is what you should do. Here are what I believe the best steps towards a better relationship with her. They are not necessarily surprising or revolutionary, but they have worked for many people. Try them.
Remember your mother’s age. As children, we often do not think of our mother as having an age. Even when we become conscious of her as an individual, age does not change our view; she is still our mother. Knowing our mother’s age, not just in numbers of years but in terms of her psychological and physical state, often helps us to understand her better.
Listen to your mother. I have found that sometimes the things my mother told me long ago are remarkably useful. If your mother knows that you respect her point of view, even if you do not share it, it will help her feel close to you.
Remember that your mother has a past. A key step in managing our relationship with our mother is to find out about her early life.In learning about our mother’s past, we know that it can encourage us to think about her whole life.
Ask your mother about your childhood history. My grandparents died when I was young. If you are fortunate enough to have living family, think of your life as a jigsaw puzzle and ask as many questions as you can to put the picture together. Understanding your roots and your childhood can help you know more clearly who you are, as part of a family which you share with your mother.
Remember that managing your mother is really about managing yourself. Taking any measure to managing our mother is the issue of how we manage ourselves. No matter how difficult we find her, it is important to remember that it is not her behavior itself that is causing us discomfort, but the way we feel about her behavior. We should follow the way of her life. At the heart of managing your mother is being able to accept your flawed self. Only then are you able to accept your mother-----with all her failings.
64. 【小题1】What does the underlined phrase “a jigsaw puzzle” mean?

A.拼图玩具B.浏览迷宫C.填充字谜D.游戏人生
65. 【小题2】Which of the following is implied but not stated in the passage?
A.You will have a better relationship with your mother if you respect her opinion.
B.Knowing your mother’s age is a useful piece of advice.
C.The key measure of managing our mother is how we manage ourselves.
D.It is unreasonable to expect our mother to change totally from the way she was brought up.
66. 【小题3】The main purpose of writing the text is _______.
A.to give information about how you think of your mother
B.to improve the relationship with your mother
C.to keep a sense of humor about your mother all day long
D.to accept your mother-----with all her failings

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网