题目内容
Speech—the act of uttering sounds to convey meaning—is a kind of human action. Like any other constantly repeated action, speaking has to be learned, but once it is learned, it becomes a generally unconscious and apparently automatic process.
As far as we can determine, human beings do not need to be forced to speak; most babies seem to possess a sort of instinctive drive to produce speech like noises. How to speak and what to say are another matter altogether. There actions are learned from the particular society into which the baby is born; so that, like all conduct that is learned from a society—from the people around us—speech is a patterned activity.
The meandering(漫目无地的)babble(咿呀学语)and chatter of a young child are eventually channeled by imitation into a few orderly grooves that represent the pattern accepted as meaningful by the people around him. Similarly, a child’s indiscriminate(不加分辨的)practice of putting things into his mouth becomes limited to putting food into his mouth in a certain way.
The sounds that a child can make are more varied and numerous than the sounds that any particular language uses. However, a child born into a society with a pattern of language is encouraged to make a small selection of sounds and to make these few sounds over and over until it is natural for him to make these sounds and not others.
1.For an adult, the process of speaking usually involves___________________ .
|
A．conscious selection of sounds |
B．imitation of those around him |
|
C．a drive to make noises |
D．unconscious actions |
2.The selection says that most babies have an instinctive drive to __________ .
|
A．express ideas in words |
B．make speech like noise |
|
C．convey meaning |
D．imitate sounds around them |
3.Conduct that is learned from a society may be called___________________ .
|
A．instinctive drive |
B．selection |
C．automatic activity |
D．patterned activity |
4.The sounds that a child is able to make are ___________________ . .
|
A．not as varied as those used in language |
|
B．more varied and numerous than those in any language |
|
C．far fewer than those needed to form a language |
|
D．completely different from the sounds of language |
5.We may say that a child has learned to speak if he ___________________ . .
|
A．makes varied sounds |
|
B．carefully considers each sound he makes |
|
C．makes only certain sounds naturally |
|
D．imitates people around him |
1.D
2.B
3.D
4.B
5.C
【解析】略
In a few years，you might be able to speak Chinese，Korean，Japanese，French，and English-and all at the same time. This sounds incredible，but Alex Waibel，a computer science professor at US's Car-negie Mellon University (CMU) and Germany's University of Karlsruhe，announced last week that it may soon be reality. He and his team have invented software and hardware that could make it far easier for people who speak different languages to understand each other.
One application，called Lecture Translation，can easily translate a speech from one language into an-other. Current translation technologies typically limit speakers to certain topics or a limited vocabulary. Us-ers also have to be trained how to use the programme.
Another machine can send translations of a speech to different listeners depending on what languagethey speak. “It is like having a simultaneous translator right next to you but without disturbing the person next to you，”Waibel said
Prefer to read? So- called Translation Glasses transcribe(转录) the translations on a tiny liquid-crystal display(LCD) screen.
Then there's the Muscle Translator. Electrodes capture the electrical signals from facial muscle movements made naturally when a person is mouthing words. The signals are then translated into speech.The electrodes could be replaced with wireless chips implanted in a person's face，according to research-ers.
During a demonstration held last Thursday in CMU's Pittsburgh campus，a Chinese student named Sang Jun had 11 tiny electrodes attached to the muscles of his cheeks，neck and throat. Then he mouthed-without speaking aloud- a few words in Mandarin(普通话) to the audience. A few seconds later，the phrase was displayed on a computer screen and spoken out by the computer in English and Spanish: “Let me introduce our new prototype.”
This particular instrument，when fully developed，might allow anyone to speak in any number of lan-guages or，as Waibel put it，“to switch your mouth to a foreign language”. “The idea behind the universi-ty's prototypes is to create'good enough' bridges for cross- cultural exchanges that are becoming more common in the world，”Waibel said.
With spontaneous(自发的) translators，foreign drivers in Germany could listen to traffic warnings on the radio; tourists in China could read all the signs and talk with local people;leaders of different coun-tries could have secret talks without any interpreters there.
【小题1】What can't be learned from the text?
| A．The spontaneous translators will help us a lot. |
| B．There is no Muscle Translator in the world now. |
| C．Muscle Translators can translate what you think into speech if you just move your mouth. |
| D．A lecture translation can translate what you said into other languages easily. |
| A．happening at at the same time. | B．happening by itself. |
| C．similar in size. | D．Similar in quality. |
| A．To make cultural exchanges between different countries easier. |
| B．To help students learn foreign languages more easily. |
| C．To make people live in foreign countries more comfortably. |
| D．To help people learn more foreign languages in the future. |
| A．The translator is so good that it can translate any language into the very language you need. |
| B．The translator is becoming more and more common in the world as a bridge. |
| C．With the help of the translator，you only need to open your mouth when you want to say something without saying the exact words at all. |
| D．The translator needs to be improved before being put into market. |
| A．A newspaper. | B．A magazine on science. |
| C．A fairy tale. | D．A scientific fantasy book. |
根据短文内容，从下框的选项中选出能概括每一段主题的最佳选项。选项中有一项为多余项。(涂卡时，E涂AB，F涂AC)
| Know your introduction and your conclusion. Channel your nervous energy. Know your audience. Use deep-breathing techniques. Be prepared Select an appropriate topic. |
How you calm yourself before giving a speech? Both modern research and centuries of experience from experienced public speakers suggest some practical advice.
【小题1】_____
Know to whom you’ll be speaking, and learn as much about your audience as you can. The more you can anticipate the kind of reaction your listeners will have to your speech, the more comfortable you’ll be in delivering your message. Be audience-centered rather than speaker-centered.
【小题2】_____
You will feel less nervous if you talk about something you are familiar with or have some personal experience of. Your comfort with the subject of the speech will be reflected in your delivery.
【小题3】_____
The better prepared you are, the less anxiety you will experience. Being prepared means that you have researched your topic and practiced your speech several times before you deliver it.
【小题4】_____
You are likely to feel the most anxious during the opening moments of your speech. Therefore, it is a good idea to have a clear plan for how you will start your speech. Being familiar with your introduction will help you feel more comfortable about the entire speech. If you know how you will end your speech, you will have a safe harbour in case you lose your place. If you need to end your speech ahead of time, a well-delivered conclusion can permit you to make a graceful exit.
【小题5】____
One of the symptoms(症状) of nervousness is a change in your breathing and heart rates. Nervous speakers tend to take short, shallow breaths. To help break the anxiety—reduce breathing pattern, consider taking a few slow deep breaths before you rise to speak.