1 . Going for walks with my two-year-old son, I meet many nice people who ask what my job is. When I say that I teach at Swarthmore College, their faces light up, and the next question is, “What do you teach?” As they hear my answer “linguistics (the scientific study of language)”, they look confused. The smile on their faces tells me that they don't know what to make of my answer. If they are brave enough, they will ask, “So, what kinds of classes do you teach then?” Good question.

I have long been teaching pragmatics(语用学), a branch of linguistics. It is primarily concerned with how the context(上下文) in which a sentence is said influences its meaning. What “I'd love a glass of water” means largely depends on where and when it is said. In a restaurant, it will probably be understood as a request directed toward the waiter. Somewhere out in a desert, however, the same sentence is more likely to be interpreted as an impossible wish. Thus, although the literal (照字面本义的) meanings of two sentences could be exactly the same, their communicative meanings could be very different.

Interestingly, in pragmatics you will discover a message can be well communicated though not literally expressed. This takes place when the speaker and the listener share common ground.

If you see a car stopped on the side of the road, and you have the following exchange with the driver, you both know you've said enough to get your points across:

Driver: Hi. I ran out of gas.

You: There’s a Shell just down the road.

Obviously, the driver is really asking something like, “Could you tell me what to do?” Your reply implies that there is a place nearby where the driver can get gas. No further explanation is needed because Shell, the name of a gas station, is part of their common ground.

1. What do we know about the people in Paragraph 1?

A．They are familiar with the author.	B．They work at Swarthmore College.
C．They know little about linguistics.	D．They hope to attend the author's class.

2. Why does the author say the underlined sentence has different communicative meanings?

A．Because their speakers are different.	B．Because their literal meanings are different.
C．Because their wishes are different.	D．Because their contexts are different.

3. Why did the car mentioned in the text stop?

A．To buy some gas.

B．To ask for help.

C．To wait for someone.

D．To take a short rest.

4. How does the author mainly explain pragmatics?

A．By analyzing major causes.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By using examples.	D．By presenting research findings.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Where does the speaker come from?

A．Australia.

B．England.

C．America.

2. What do English people think of Americans?

A．Self-centered.

B．Humorous.

C．Cool.

3. What did the speaker like to do in the afternoon in England?

A．Have a cup of tea.

B．Watch comedy shows.

C．Play with his friends.

4. What did the speaker find amazing in England?

A．The TV program.

B．The tea shop.

C．The old buildings.

3 . When studying English, it’s best to focus on the big picture. Trying to improve your speaking? Aim for fluency and “standard” pronunciation. Want to get better at writing? Practice vocabulary and grammar.

But this way of learning, though necessary, misses one big thing: all the differences there are in how different people speak English. For example, people from the US and the UK speak very differently. If a British friend invited me to eat lunch at his apartment, he might say: “Come over to mine ‘round 12 pm’.”

But if I invited him over, I might say: “Be at my place a little after 12.” “My place” is more commonly used in the US; “mine” is more frequently used in the UK – both are informal ways of saying “my house” or “my apartment”.

Even people in different parts of the US speak very differently. For example, imagine that you are talking to a group of people and want to address them all at once. What pronoun do you use? “You”, you should reply — that’s the correct pronoun whether you’re addressing one person or a group.

But using “you” to address multiple people feels strange in conversation, so speakers find ways around it. The most common choice around the US is to say “you guys”. But working class natives of my hometown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, say “yinz”: as in, “yinz wanna go to the bar later to watch the game?” In eastern Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey, some people say “youse”: as in, “youse are always hanging out in the street”. In the southern US, people say “y’all”: as in, “don’t forget about us, y’all!”

The point is, there’s a lot more to languages than what’s standard and proper. So take a tour around the US, y’all. Yinz will be glad that youse did it.

1. Which aspect of language learning does the author specifically focus on in the article?

A．The reason why we need to practice standard pronunciation.

B．How to learn from native speakers.

C．How to see the big picture when speaking English.

D．The different ways native speakers use the language.

2. The underlined word “addressing” in Paragraph 4 probably means ______.

A．turning to.

B．dealing with.

C．speaking to.

D．sending a letter to.

3. If someone greets you and your family by saying “It’s good seein’ y’all!”, he is likely from ______.

A．the southern US.

B．Pennsylvania.

C．New York.

D．New Jersey.

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

Learning a new language can feel like performing magic. Suddenly, a whole other world opens up and you discover a completely new side of life. Of course, learning a language doesn't happen by magic, but rather through study. Here are some advantages about how the brain changes during language learning.

It sounds like something a child may ask: does learning new things make my brain grow bigger? It turns out that this is what language learning does to the brain. The researchers from Lund University in Sweden studied a group of students from the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, who were going through a language learning program. For a control group, the researchers selected students who were studying medicine and cognitive（认知的）science at Umea University. The researchers discovered that brain structure changed only in the language learning group. The results suggest that language learning is a promising way to keep the brain in shape, and offers cognitive benefits more than other forms of study.

Many of us dream of being able to focus better, and according to a study published in the journal Brain and Language, learning new languages could help make that dream come true. The researchers from Northwestern University tested bilingual（双语的）and monolingual（单语的）individuals using a language comprehension task. The task involved listening to a word, and then selecting the corresponding image from a group of four. Bilingual participants were obviously better at figuring out the target word. It shows that being bilingual comes with more ability to leave aside unnecessary information, which is key to increasing focus.

Several other studies have shown a link between being bilingual and delaying the beginning of Alzheimer's disease by an average of four years. The reason for this delay, the researchers believe, is that learning a language challenges our gray cells, which helps prevent them from worsening. So just like exercising your body, providing your brain with a workout like learning languages has considerable health benefits.

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5 . The terms “supper” and “dinner” can be used pretty interchangeably, but “dinner” is typically used more often. However, if someone says one or the other, most people will know they're referring to the last meal of the day. But we came across some shocking news: they're not the same thing after all—and if your grandparents or parents used the term “supper,” there's a good chance your ancestors were farmers.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, Americans regularly ate a light supper as their evening meal because they were eating dinner—the biggest meal of the day—around noon,” food historian Helen Zoe Veit said. The purpose of eating their biggest meal at noontime was that farmers would have more strength and energy to get through the rest of their workday, the English Language & Usage Stack Dictionary confirms, “dinner” doesn't necessarily refer to a specific time of day It simply means the main meal of the day. “Supper,” however, stems from the Old French word “souper,” meaning “evening meal”.

So what changed? Eating the biggest meal of the day around noon started to become a thing of the past when more Americans began working away from their homes and farms. “They couldn't readily return home to cook and eat in the middle of the day,” says Veit. And so, more and more people shifted their main meal of the day to the evening, when they could spend more time enjoying their food and spending' time with their family.

Today, you might notice that the term “supper” is more commonly used in Southern and Midwestern states, probably due to those regions haring a greater reliance on agriculture than Northern states and thus having more ancestors who were farmers.

1. What do we know about “supper” and “dinner” from the text?

A．Supper is more frequent than dinner.

B．The difference remains in eastern-western states.

C．They can indicate family origins.

D．It makes no sense to tell them apart.

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The original reference of the two terms.

B．Dinner is related to any meal during the day.

C．Introduction to the grandest meal traditionally

D．Evening meals were attached great importance to.

3. Which word can replace the underlined word in Paragraph 2?

A．Stops.	B．Comes.
C．Disappears.	D．Benefits.

4. What caused the changes to the words' reference?

A．Daily work.	B．Healthy diet
C．Family union	D．Official policy.

6 . Following tips from a tourist guide 15 years ago, Zhao Jiang went to Mahabalipuram, a town, that despite its architectural splendors, golden beach and performing arts, was strictly off the map for Chinese holiday-goers at the time. Then in October, came the news that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have an informal summit at the same seaside resort in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

“I was happy that Tamil Nadu got the chance to host the summit and enjoy the spotlight, and I was proud that what I have learned and am working on has now become well-known,” Zhao, who heads the Tamil language service at China Radio International (CRI), said.

It has been an illuminating journey for Zhao. In the mid-1990s, when she went to study a foreign language at the Communication University of China, she chose her major more on a quirk.

“At that time, the university was offering Bangla, Nepali, Swahili and Tamil as foreign languages. I knew Bangla was spoken in Bangladesh, Nepali in Nepal and Swahili in Tanzania. But I had never heard of Tamil and I had no idea where it was spoken. So I signed up for this unheard-of language,” she said.

Today, she is an expert in Tamil, the predominant language in Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken in Sri Lanka ,Singapore and Malaysia. One of the oldest languages in the world with a history of about 2100 years, its script is formidable, leading to a noted Indian business tycoon calling it “the Great Wall of Tamil.”

1. Why did Zhao Jiang go to Mahabalipuram 15 years ago?

A．Chinese tourists loved to go there.	B．Leaders often had meetings there.
C．Zhao Jiang loved the architecture there.	D．A tourist guide advised her to go there.

2. What can we learn about Zhao Jiang’s job?

A．She hosts the import summit.	B．She charges the Tamil branch.
C．She works as a journalist.	D．She enjoys the spotlight.

3. What does the underlined phrase “on a quirk” probably mean?

A．On occasions.

B．In advance.

C．By accident.

D．On purpose.

4. What is called “the Great Wall of Tamil” by an Indian business man?

A．The oral form of Tamil language.	B．The long history of Tamil language.
C．The writing system of Tamil language.	D．The only expert on Tamil language.

7 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

There are thousands of languages in the world. More people speak Mandarin    1     any other language. It is a form of Chinese. In the United States, many schools are teaching Mandarin to kids.

“Learning Chinese     2    (offer) a window into another world,” Michael Bacon told TFK. He leads immersion programs at public schools in Portland, Oregon. Students through fifth grade spend half the school day     3    (study) Mandarin. The other half of the school day, they learn English. Students become bilingual.

    4     (interesting) in Mandarin is growing in U. S. schools. There are many reasons for this. Mandarin challenges kids. It can make them     5    (get) ready for the business world. It connects some kids to     6    (they) heritage.

“The United States and China are two of the largest and most     7    (power) countries in the world,” says Eugene Huang,     8     leads the US-China Strong Foundation. The group has a goal. It wants 100 million U. S. students to be learning Mandarin by 2020.

“    9     more students understand China^’s culture, history, and language, the better    10     (prepare) they will be for the future ”, Huang says.

8 . About 6.000 different languages are spoken around the world. The Foundation for Endangered Languages estimates that between 500 and 1,000 of those are spoken by only a handful of people. And every year the world loses around 25 mother tongues. This week a conference organized by the foundation is being attended by about 100 academics. They are discussing rare languages in Ireland, China, Australia and Spain.

“I do think it is a good thing for a child on the Isle of Man to learn Manx(the language of the Isle of Man with about 100 speakers now). I value continuity in a community,” says Nicholoas Ostler, the foundation’s chairman. In Europe, Mr Ostler’s view seems to command official support. There is the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML), which every European Union (EU) member has signed, and the EU has a project called the European Language Diversity for All (ELDIA), designed to protect the most threatened native tongues. At the end of last year the project received $2.7m to identify those languages most at risk.

But for some this is not just a waste of resources but a misunderstanding of how language works. “To have a public policy that a certain culture or language should be preserved shows a fundamental misunderstanding. In the end, whether or not a language can exist is very simple. If a language is one that people don’t participate in, it’s not a language anymore,” says writer and broadcaster Kenan Malik.

American journalist Jeff Bell agrees that languages are decided by people not politicians. And Mr Bell says politicians make a “category mistake” when they try to get in the way of language, mentioning an experiment in Glasgow’s schools. “Offering Gaelic to children of people who don’t speak it seems like the preservation of lost glories. It’s very romantic to try and save a language but nonsense,” says Bell.

“Language is not a plant that rises and falls, lives and dies. It’s a tool that is perfectly adapted by the people using it. Get on with living and talking.” adds Bell.

1. What do the ECRML and the ELDIA aim at?

A．Studying the origins of minority languages.

B．Introducing more official languages to the EU.

C．Identifying regional languages across the EU.

D．Preventing rare languages from extinction(灭绝).

2. Which of the following might Malik agree with?

A．The development of a language is in the hands of speakers.

B．Languages are equally important.

C．Language protection lies in governmental effort.

D．The preservation of a language is to preserve a culture.

3. What is Bell’s prediction for the experiment in Glasgow’s schools?

A．It will be considered a glory.

B．It will very likely be a vain attempt.

C．It will make Gaelic popular again.

D．It will be opposed by the teachers.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．How should we protect threatened tongues?

B．Why is it important to learn our mother tongues?

C．Are dying languages worth saving?

D．Do we speak the languages our ancestors speak?

9 . 课文原文填空

When Michael Jordan’s feet left the ground, time seemed to stand     1    . The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his     2     moves and jumps. Jordan’s skills were impressive, but the     3    strength that he showed made him     4    . In the final seconds of a game, Jordan always seemed to find a way to win. Jordan says that the secret to his success is     5     from his failures. “I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Losing games taught him to practise     6    and never give up. In life, Jordan has learnt to share his success with others. The Boys and Girls Club     7     he started in Chicago has been young people since 1996.

At the beginning,     8     Chinese was a picture-based language. It dates back several thousand years     9    the use of animal     10     and shells on which symbols were     11     by ancient Chinese people. Some of the ancient symbols can still be seen in today's Hanzi.

By the Shang Dynasty, these symbols had become     12    well-developed writing system. Over the years, the system developed into different forms,     13     it was a time when people were divided geographically,     14    to many varieties of dialects and characters. This,     15    , changed under the Emperor Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-207BCE).

10 . 语法填空

British English    1     (difference) from American English in many ways. The most obvious way is in the vocabulary. Sometimes, the same word has a     2     (slight) different meaning, which can be     3     (confuse). Besides, there are some differences in grammar，spelling and pronunciation between the two varieties,     4     sometimes makes people from different places have     5     (difficult) in understanding each other. Despite the differences, they still have much     6     common, and    7     (communicate)across the Atlantic develops steadily, which has led to them     8     (move) closer. Though there seem to be many “Englishes” and people speak English with different    9     (accent), users of English will all be able to understand each other,     10     they are.