44. Researchers watched the gestures the people made because they wanted to know _______.

　　 A. how the structure of language changed

　　 B. how language was reflected

　　 C. whether they could express the same idea

　　 D. whether they could describe what they had seen

43. Six Nobel prizes are given out each year EXCEPT _______.

　　 A. in 1902　　 　　　　　　　　　 B. in 1973

　　 C. in 1971　　 　　　　　　　　 D. in 1969

C

Speakers of different languages not only describe the world differently but think about it differently too, according to a new study.

Researchers used a cartoon cat Sylvester to study how language was reflected in the gestures people made. Dr. Sotaro Kita of the University of Bristol’s Department of Experimental Psychology(心理学)showed the cartoon to a group of native English, Japanese and Turkish speakers and then watched their gestures as they described the actions they had seen. He found speakers of the three different languages used different gestures to describe the same event, which appeared to reflect the way the structure of their languages expressed that event. For example, when describing a scene where the cat swings on a rope, the English speakers used gestures showing an arc trajectory(弧形轨迹) and the Japanese and Turkish speakers tended to use straight gestures showing the motion but not the arc.

Dr. Kita suggests this is because Japanese and Turkish have no proper verb to express the English meaning “to swing”. While English speakers use the arc gesture as their language can readily express the change of location and the arc-shaped trajectory, Japanese and Turkish speakers cannot as easily express the idea of movement with an arc trajectory so they used the straight gesture.

Dr. Kita said, “My research suggests that speakers of different languages cause different spatial (空间的) images of the same event in a way that matches the expressive possibilities of their own languages.” In other words, language influences spatial thinking at the moment of speaking.

42. What words describe Alfred Nobel best?

　　 A. Selfish and clever.

　　 B. Generous and wise.

　　 C. Great and old.

　　 D. Rich and powerful.

41. Why did Nobel decide to invent dynamite?

　　 A. Because his brother was killed in an explosion.

　　 B. Because dynamite was a safer form of explosive.

　　 C. Because his father worked with explosives.

　　 D. Because dynamite could make explosives safer to handle and use.

40. Anyone but ________ will possibly win a Nobel Prize.

　　 A. a scientist who makes a great discovery in physics

　　 B. a scientist who makes a special achievement in DNA

　　 C. a woman who devoted herself to world peace

　　 D. a black man who is working hard to give his four children a good education

39. In a few months, there will be a new product for armchairs which will ________.

　　 A. be completely safe

　　 B. be safe and widely produced

　　 C. be dangerous if they catch fire

　　 D. not be so easy to catch fire

B

The Nobel prizes are among the most important and internationally recognized prizes in the world. The prizes are given to honor great discoveries or special achievements by individuals or institutions. The fields in which the prizes are awarded are physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology (the study of living things), literature, world peace and economics.

The prizes were first given out in 1901 (except the economics prize, which began only in 1969) and since then they have been presented almost every year. The winners received a large sum of money, a medal and a certificate. They are admired and respected around the world for their hard work and the achievements they have made.

The prizes were created by a Swedish chemist called Alfred Nobel. Nobel was born in 1833, in Sweden. However, he was educated in Russia and the USA. Nobel devoted much of his life to his father’s business, working with explosives. In 1864, his younger brother and several other people were killed in an explosion in a factory. After the terrible shock of his brother’s death, Nobel was determined to discover a way of making explosives safer to handle and use. He believed in the importance of his work, and he worked hard. In 1867, his hard work paid off, and he invented “dynamite”, a safer form of explosive.

Dynamite made Nobel very rich. When he died in 1896, he left around 9 million dollars. In his will, Nobel said that he wanted this money to be used to pay for annual prizes to be given to people who had done the most good for mankind each year. He also said that the nationality of the winners did not matter. The prizes were to be given to the people or institutions who had achieved the most regardless of which country they were from.　　

38. Mr. Jones said it _______ a fire of this kind.

　 　A. was necessary to put out immediately

　　 B. would take a very long time to put out

　　 C. was no use trying to put out

　　 D. would waste much time to put out

37. If an armchair of this type caught fire, ________.

　　 A. the whole room would be on fire within three minutes

　　 B. the whole room would be on fire within only one minute

　　 C. the fire would last three minutes

　　 D. things fifteen feet away would catch fire, too

36. According to the opinion of a scientist, certain types of armchairs ________.

　　 A. were very safe

　　 B. should not be used because they were very dangerous

　　 C. were widely used and supplied

　　 D. will give off choking smokes