1 . About 7,000 languages in use today speak to the fact that our species is born to communicate. But while we tend to view language as merely a consequence of our extraordinary cognitive (认知的) powers, Caleb Everett thinks there may be more going on. Everett argues in his book “A Myriad of Tongues: How Languages Reveal Differences in How We Think” that language itself may influence our understanding of the world and our experience of time and space.
Such a challenging idea might have caused arguments a few decades ago, says Everett, because linguists (语言学家) restricted themselves to analyzing languages of industrialized, higher-income countries. These are relatively similar, so they encourage speakers to think along broadly similar lines, he says. But we now know they fall short of representing the variety of languages spoken today — and the more we learn about understudied languages, the more evidence we find for the complicated interaction between language and thinking.
Consider Berinmo, a language spoken in Papua New Guinea. Unlike English speakers, explains Everett, Berinmo speakers struggle to remember whether an object they were shown earlier was blue or green — perhaps because that language doesn’t distinguish between these colors. But it does make a formal distinction between yellowish-greens and other greens, and Berinmo speakers typically find it easy to remember which of these colors an object they saw earlier was, while English speakers struggle to do this.
Everett’s book celebrates two main subjects: understudied languages, with the interesting insights they offer, and the careful work of linguists, cognitive scientists, and other experts to explore the way language influences our thinking.
As Everett stresses, this work is vital as we live through a language extinction event predicted to see the loss of about 30 percent of today’s languages by 2100. His book makes it clear that this is more than just a tragedy for local communities. Given the insights that languages offer into the human mind, their disappearance is detrimental to us all.
1. What does Everett’s book discuss?| A．How many languages are still in use. |
| B．How language may impact our world view. |
| C．How humans gain languages since birth. |
| D．How language promotes mental development. |
| A．By following advice from language experts. |
| B．By interviewing different cognitive scientists. |
| C．By gaining insights from minority languages. |
| D．By contrasting the world’s dominant languages. |
| A．It is accurate in describing objects. | B．It is greatly influenced by English. |
| C．It has a decreasing number of users. | D．It has a unique way of telling colors apart. |
| A．Harmful. | B．Familiar. | C．Essential. | D．Strange. |
| A．How to understand expressions. |
| B．How to make desserts. |
| C．How to solve problems. |
| A．The meaning of some expressions. |
| B．The recipe for some desserts. |
| C．The solutions to some problems. |
1. What did Jason think of Karen’s food?
| A．Delicious. | B．Unhealthy. | C．Terrible. |
| A．Observe the bees. |
| B．Have some ice cream. |
| C．Study English slang. |
Written Chinese has also become an important
The four countries that
7 . It wasn’t until after I graduated from college, and realized that there’s no such thing as all-encompassing (包罗万象) knowledge, that I was able to read for pleasure. A sense of curiosity directed me and I started to see dictionaries as field guides to the life of language. Looking up words felt less like a failing than an admission that there are lots of things I don’t know and an opportunity to discover just how many.
I prize my 1954 copy of Webster’s New International Dictionary, Second Edition. I often consult it, during evening games of Scrabble or midday magazine reading. When I come across unfamiliar words while reading novels, I look them up. When I start encountering these words elsewhere, the linguistic (语言的) universe seems to shrink to the size of a small town.
Dictionaries heighten my senses: They direct my attention into a conversation with language. They make me wonder what other things I’m blind to because I haven’t taught myself to notice them yet. Recently spotted examples include orrery, “a mechanical model, usually clockwork, devised to represent the motions of the moon and Earth (and sometimes also other planets) around the sun.” The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) also tells me that the word comes from the fourth Earl of Orrery, for whom a copy of the first machine was made, around 1700. Useful? Obviously not. Satisfying? Deeply.
Wikipedia and Google answer questions with more questions, opening up pages you never asked for. But a dictionary builds on common knowledge, using simple words to explain complex ones. Using one feels as if I’m prying open an oyster (蚝) rather than falling down a rabbit hole. Why leave solvable mysteries up to guesswork?
For me, dictionaries are a door into that kind of uncalculated knowledge-seeking. They remind me that following your curiosity instead of brushing it aside is one of the best ways I know to feel connected to more than what’s right in front of you.
1. What can we know about the author?| A．He merely read for fun before graduation. |
| B．He longed to learn about all knowledge. |
| C．He considered dictionaries chances of enrichment. |
| D．He admitted being a failure when learning languages. |
| A．To introduce a word. | B．To indicate a finding. |
| C．To clarify a concept. | D．To support a statement. |
| A．Encountering new problems. | B．Entering a different world. |
| C．Acquiring essential common sense. | D．Simplifying tough questions. |
| A．Jaw-dropping. | B．Eye-opening. | C．Mind-numbing. | D．Labour-saving. |
8 . Currently, the ability to speak English fluently has become a necessity for individuals and countries to participate in the global economy. This is particularly true for countries that heavily rely on international trade and investment. Singapore is a perfect example of such a country.
Singapore is a small city-state located in Southeast Asia. Despite its small size, it has become one of the most prosperous and innovative economies in the world, This nation has gained a reputation for having a good quality of life, well-developed infrastructure (基础设施), and a favorable climate for businesses. While there are four official languages in Singapore, English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, English is the most commonly used language in business, education, and government.
English has played a crucial role in Singapore’s economic development. The country’s founding father, Lee Kuan Yew, acknowledged the significance of English in the international business environment and made it a priority to promote English learning in Singapore. He saw English as a tool to connect Singapore to the world and attract foreign investment. The government carried out policies to promote English learning, such as making English the medium of instruction in schools and providing financial support for teachers to teach English.
As a result of these policies, Singaporeans have become proficient in English, and this has given them a competitive edge in the global economy. Singapore is home to many multinational corporations, and English proficiency is a critical factor for these companies when selecting employees. Singaporeans’ proficiency in English has also made it easier for them to conduct business with other countries, particularly those in the Western world. As a consequence, the country started marching forward steadily towards prosperity.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．English proficiency is a must for every person. |
| B．English is highly important in the world of business. |
| C．English is the official language of all countries. |
| D．English is the only language spoken in the global economy. |
| A．It has a favorable climate to live in. |
| B．Its government officials speak English best. |
| C．Its economy rarely relies on international trade. |
| D．Its mainly-used official language is English. |
| A．He supported schools to include more English classes. |
| B．He was committed to attracting foreign investment. |
| C．He attached great importance to English learning in Singapore. |
| D．He made policies to protect the business environment in Singapore. |
| A．English, the Global Language |
| B．The Road to a Prosperous Country |
| C．English Learning Promotes Singapore’s Development |
| D．Reasonable Policies Lead to the Prosperity of Singapore |
| A．A book. | B．A language. | C．A competition. |
1. 目的；
2. 建议。
请你根据以上内容，代表学生会写一封英文倡议书。
注意：
1. 词数为80词左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear friends,
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Students’ Union
