Question

【题目】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.

【1】According to the passage, many experts like Mark Turin are devoted to ____.

A. looking for the lost languages

B. spreading the knowledge of global languages

C. saving the languages that are dying out

D. organizing new language research groups

【2】Why some languages are dying out?

A. Because some people are ashamed of their native language.

B. Because the local people are forbidden to use them.

C. Because the global languages are widely used .

D. Because the people who use them are dying out.

【3】What does Turin do in his work?

A. Listen, copy and store.

B. Copying, experiment and protect.

C. Protect , collect and report.

D. Document, protect and reconnect.

【4】Which of the following may be useful in Turin’s work?

A. Cameras and radios. B. Recorders and computers.

C. Telescopes and TVs. D. Telephones and fax.

【5】What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Some scientists are trying to rescue disappearing languages.

B. Some languages are becoming extinct.

C. There are various languages in the world.

D. Not all languages are in use.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】C

【3】D

【4】B

【5】A

【解析】

试题分析：本文是一篇记叙文。叙述了学者们正在努力记录濒临消失的语言和文化，来挽救这些语言。耶鲁大学的科学家Mark Turin专门研究喜马拉雅山的语言和口述传统，并且他根据自己在尼泊尔一个村庄的生活经历写了一本书。他不只是满足把这些语言在灭绝前记录下来，他要把他们挽救下来，和现在的语言进行重新的连接。

【1】C细节理解题。根据第二段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.可知许多学者正在努力记录濒临消失的语言和文化，来挽救这些语言，选C。

【2】C 细节理解题。根据首段As more and more people speak the global languages of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing.可知由于越来越多的人们开始使用世界语言，造成了某些语言的使用减少，选C。

【3】D细节理解题。根据文中Generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected.和Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.可知Turin的作品是从最初的材料上进行的收集，他的作品使濒临危险的语言得到了保护，并且与语言重新连接。因此对他的作品做好的描述具有收集，保护和重新连接的作用，选D。

【4】B推理判断题。根据文章最后两段内容可知他在记录语言，并且利用数码技术和网络来传播，故选B。

【5】A 主旨大意题。文章首段提出许多语言在消失，然后介绍了一些专家在拯救这些语言方面做出的努力，由此判断答案选A。