1 . The close relationship between speakers and their speech has led some scholars to suggest that language determines the view we have of the world around us. Different languages segment natural phenomena differently. We name seven colors in the rainbow: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Speakers of other languages may see only four, as did Turkish before our system was introduced, or even as few as two, roughly the lighter shades versus the darker. There is nothing in nature to demonstrate how we should chop up the spectrum of the rainbow, but when we have learned a given language, we distinguish the shades it designates, both in the rainbow and elsewhere students of language assume from such a situation that language determines much of the and patterns we see in the world around us, and that it directs our concepts and actions
Changes in the choice of language, then, might modify behavior. Today gasoline trucks are generally labeled" flammable(易燃的)". The in-prefix was taken as equivalent to that of words like "inactive", where in- means not". It is actually the in- of words like "intense", where it strengthens the meaning. The word "inflammable", then, means "highly flammable" The faulty interpretation of language, however, determined the attitudes of many speakers, who then adjusted their behavior in relation to the language. Prudent truck owners have taken notice and changed the warning to“ flammable"
Such observations led Whorf to a concept with deeper patterns of language, such as the use of tenses in the language of Europe. Tense is the linguistic expression or time. English and other European languages generally require their speakers to identify the time of an event, whether present: It is raining; past: It rained; or future: It will rain. By contrast, many languages, such as the Hopi language of New Mexico, lack expression for tense. Nor do such languages objectify time. In Hopi one cannot count days, minutes, years as though they were objects like stones. Everyday expressions like "Three years went by" are impossible in Hopi.
Comparing such languages, Whorf proposed that "our use of tense or our objectified view of time is favorable to historicity se t)and to everything connected with the keeping of records." That is to say, because of the patterns for referring to time in English and other languages, their speakers maintain records and emphasize bookkeeping, accounting, and the like. In accordance with it, ones conception of the world is relative to the language one learns
While the relativity hypothesis(假设) has attracted considerable attention, it has never been experimentally demonstrated to the valid. a large scale attempt to test the outlook of Hopi-speaking children versus English speaking children turned out to be inconclusive. It remains a task of future scholars to determine whether the hypothesis is valid and also whether one should assume a weak or strong position with regard to it. Clearly we are deeply tied to our native language. But whether it regulates our perceptions or our view of the world Is still an open question
1. The case of the label "flammable" is mentioned to prove that_________.| A．languages can affect our choices of action |
| B．prefixes can lead to disasters if used improperly |
| C．some truck drivers can adjust their behavior |
| D．misunderstanding can happen among speakers |
| A．reflects deeper patterns of European languages |
| B．transforms abstract ideas into objects |
| C．helps avoid certain ambiguity in concepts or ideas |
| D．makes it possible to modern e the Hopi language |
| A．Different languages often have different methods of keeping historical records |
| B．We need more studies to find out if we are closely related to our native tongues |
| C．Our mother tongues have a great influence on our world views and behavior |
| D．It's no easy task to confirm the link between mother tongues and our concepts |
2 . About 18 months ago, my father was in the hospital recovering from a major lung operation. My mother had recently passed away, and my father had taken the loss of his partner of 55 years very hard and had lost interest in life.
Trying to get him to eat each day was quite a chore as he didn’t want anything. The one thing, however, that he would ask us to bring him was ice-cream.
One evening to our surprise, he refused to eat the ice-cream, so I placed it in a staff room freezer. A little while later, my son decided he wanted it, so I fetched it for him.
As I passed another ward, a woman asked, “Are there more? Where that came from?” When I explained the situation, she apologized. She then said that she had cancer and could eat very little other than the occasional ice-cream.
The next evening, I decided to buy two ice-cream. On the way to Dad’s room, I stopped in at the sick woman’s room, and offered her the ice-cream I’d bought for her. She was totally stunned that I had thought of her, and accepted the gift with tears in her eyes. I spoke with her for a few minutes, explaining what was happening in my family and listened to her similar story of pain and suffering. It was apparent that she did not have many visitors, and the ice-cream and our short chat meant a great deal to her.
I repeated the gesture a few days later, and this time was rewarded with a huge hug.
I never even thought to ask her name, and never saw her again, but it made me realize that an act of kindness can be more rewarding when you give it, rather than receive it.
1. The writer’s father stayed in the hospital because________.| A．he had trouble eating | B．he had had a lung operation |
| C．he had lost interest in life | D．he was ill for losing his wife |
| A．ice-cream was among the little food she could eat |
| B．they had similar family experiences |
| C．she was lonely without family around |
| D．to give is as important as to receive |
| A．body language | B．word |
| C．action | D．decision |
| A．Giving is rewarding. |
| B．Don’t hesitate to help elderly people. |
| C．It’s our responsibility to look after our parents. |
| D．Never put of anything you can do till tomorrow. |
