Question

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 to study how language was reflected(反映)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 action 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(摇摆)on a rope, the English speakers used gestures showing an arc(弧形)orbit 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 orbit, Japanese and Turkish speakers cannot as easily express the idea of movement with an arc orbit so they use the straight gesture.

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

1. What is mainly discussed in the text?

A. Different languages describe things differently.

B. Some languages have their limits of describing things.

C. Cartoon cats are always described differently.

D. Language influences the way people think.

2. Researchers watch the gestures people make because they think　　　　　　   .

A. gestures can reflect the way people think

B. people make the same gesture to express the same idea

C. gestures can show what people have seen

D. people often make gestures when they can’t speak a certain language

3. After watching the gestures of the speakers of the three different languages, Dr. Kita concluded that　　　　　　   .

A. Japanese and Turkish people can not express the meaning of “swing”

B. English is obviously better than Japanese and Turkish

C. no word in Japanese and Turkish can express the idea of “moving in an arc orbit”

D. every language has its own special way to describe things

4. The word “orbit” most probably means　　　　　　   .

A. a path traveled by an object which is moving around another

B. all the things that are happening in a place, and the effect or situation they cause

C. the regular way from one place to another used and can be shown on a map

D. a general idea about what something is like, or general understanding of something

 

Answer 1

答案：D;A;D;A
提示：

1．  通读全文可知文章说明的是D. 2. 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. 所以选择A. 3. My research suggests that speakers of different languages make different images of the same event in a way that matches the expressive possibilities of their own language. In other words, language influences spatial(空间的)thinking at the moment of speaking.故答案为D. 4.orbit的意思是轨道。