Question

【题目】阅读短文, 根据短文内容回答问题。

Let's Save Our Language Heritage

Each year on Feb 21, UNESCO holds an International Mother Language Day（IMLD）. The event is to draw attention to the disappearance of the world's languages：dozens of them are vanishing each year. UNESCO sees this as a tragedy（悲剧）, and with good reason.

What happens when a language dies out? Something huge is lost—not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other. And it is through language that we have culture and tradition. Kill a language and all this is killed too.

Through IMLD, more people are becoming aware of the destruction of linguistic（语言学的）diversity in modern times and trying to stop it. Google's 2012 Endangered Languages Project is a good example. Speakers and protectors of endangered languages upload text, audio and video files to the project site. They want to introduce people to the wonders of the way that people communicate and express themselves around the world.

The Myaamia Project is a similar kind of effort. This is an attempt to revive（重新使用）the language spoken by the Miami and Illinois tribes（部落）of the US. Project members work to encourage people to study and communicate with this language, which formally died out in the 1960s.

These activities, which breathe life into languages on the verge（边缘）of extinction, might seem old-fashioned to some. But those who work to keep languages alive are not enslaved（束缚）to the past. They are enthusiastic young people who design apps and use social media to champion their activities. As the US-based social event calendar website Upcoming puts it, they“spread the word" to save the word.

So, while the problem of disappearing languages remains a very serious one, there is hope. We all have a special feeling for our mother tongue, although those of us who speak one that is not endangered might not always be aware of it. This is why we should recall（回忆）the wise words of the late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela：“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

【1】When is International Mother Language Day?

【2】What happens when a language dies out?

【3】What is Google's 2012 Endangered Languages Project?

【4】What can we know from Paragraph 5?

【5】Why did the author mention Nelson Mandela's words?

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】Each year on Feb 21. ／(It's) on Feb 21.

【2】Something huge is lost.／Not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other.

【3】It shares online materials about endangered languages.

【4】Young people have creative ways to protect languages.

【5】To point out the importance of one's mother language.

【解析】

本文介绍了每年2月21日，联合国教科文组织举办一个国际母语日。这次活动旨在帮助人们关注世界语言的消失，其中许多语言每年都在消失。虽然语言消失的问题仍然是一个非常严重的问题，但还是有希望的。我们应该记住南非已故总统纳尔逊·曼德拉的名言：“如果你用一种他能理解的语言与一个人交谈，那就会进入他的头脑。如果你用他自己的语言和一个人说话，那就进入他的内心” 。

【1】根据“Each year on Feb 21, UNESCO holds an International Mother Language Day（IMLD）.”可知国际母语日是在每年的2月21日。故答案为Each year on Feb 21. ／(It's) on Feb 21.

【2】根据“Something huge is lost—not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other.”可知当一种语言消失，有些重要的事就丢失了——不仅仅是语言和标识，而是人们感知世界，互相沟通的方式丢失了。故答案为Something huge is lost.／Not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other.

【3】根据“Speakers and protectors of endangered languages upload text, audio and video files to the project site. They want to introduce people to the wonders of the way that people communicate and express themselves around the world.”可知谷歌这个项目，他们会上传关于濒危语言的文字、影音资料到网上，然后展示给全世界看。因此他们这个项目主要是分享关于濒危语言的资料。故答案为It shares online materials about endangered languages.

【4】第五段开头“These activities, which breathe life into languages on the verge（边缘）of extinction, might seem old-fashioned to some. But those who work to keep languages alive are not enslaved（束缚）to the past.”主要介绍一些活动看起来过时了，但是那些保护语言的人不会被过去束缚。紧接着介绍了一些年轻人用全新的方式去保护语言。因此本文主要介绍年轻人具有创造性、全新的方式保护语言的。故答案为Young people have creative ways to protect languages.

【5】曼德拉的名言“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart.”意思是“如果你用一种他能理解的语言与一个人交谈，那就会进入他的头脑。如果你用他自己的语言和一个人说话，那就进入他的内心” 。可见一个人的母语的重要性。故答案为To point out the importance of one's mother language.