单选题
Someoftheadvantagesofbilingualismincludebetterperformanceattasksinvolving"executivefunction"(whichinvolvesthebrain’sabilitytoplanandprioritize),betterdefenseagainstdementiainoldageand—theobvious—theabilitytospeakasecondlanguage.Onepurportedadvantagewasnotmentioned,though.Manymultilingualsreportdifferentpersonalities,orevendifferentworldviews,whentheyspeaktheirdifferentlanguages.(2)It’sanexcitingnotion,theideathatone’sveryselfcouldbebroadenedbythemasteryoftwoormorelanguages.Inobviousways(exposuretonewfriends,literatureandsoforth)theselfreallyisbroadened.Yetitisdifferenttoclaim—asmanypeopledo—tohaveadifferentpersonalitywhenusingadifferentlanguage.AformerEconomistcolleague,forexample,reportedbeingruderinHebrewthaninEnglish.Sowhatisgoingonhere?(3)BenjaminLeeWhorf,anAmericanlinguistwhodiedin1941,heldthateachlanguageencodesaworldviewthatsignificantlyinfluencesitsspeakers.Oftencalled"Whorfianism",thisideahasitssceptics,buttherearestillgoodreasonstobelievelanguageshapesthought.(4)Thisinfluenceisnotnecessarilylinkedtothevocabularyorgrammarofasecondlanguage.Significantly,mostpeoplearenotsymmetricallybilingual.Manyhavelearnedonelanguageathomefromparents,andanotherlaterinlife,usuallyatschool.Sobilingualsusuallyhavedifferentstrengthsandweaknessesintheirdifferentlanguages—andtheyarenotalwaysbestintheirfirstlanguage.Forexample,whentestedinaforeignlanguage,peoplearelesslikelytofallintoacognitivetrap(answeringatestquestionwithanobvious-seemingbutwronganswer)thanwhentestedintheirnativelanguage.Inpartthisisbecauseworkinginasecondlanguageslowsdownthethinking.Nowonderpeoplefeeldifferentwhenspeakingthem.Andnowondertheyfeellooser,morespontaneous,perhapsmoreassertiveorfunnierorblunter,inthelanguagetheywererearedinfromchildhood.(5)Whatof"crib"bilinguals,raisedintwolanguages?Eventheydonotusuallyhaveperfectlysymmetricalcompetenceintheirtwolanguages.Butevenforaspeakerwhosetwolanguagesareverynearlythesameinability,thereisanotherbigreasonthatpersonwillfeeldifferentinthetwolanguages.Thisisbecausethereisanimportantdistinctionbetweenbilingualismandbiculturalism.(6)Manybilingualsarenotbicultural.Butsomeare.Andofthosebiculturalbilinguals,weshouldbelittlesurprisedthattheyfeeldifferentintheirtwolanguages.Experimentsinpsychologyhaveshownthepowerof"priming"—smallunnoticedfactorsthatcanaffectbehaviorinbigways.Askingpeopletotellahappystory,forexample,willputtheminabettermood.Thechoicebetweentwolanguagesisahugeprime.SpeakingSpanishratherthanEnglish,forabilingualandbiculturalPuertoRicaninNewYork,mightconjurefeelingsoffamilyandhome.SwitchingtoEnglishmightprimethesamepersontothinkofschoolandwork.(7)Sotherearetwoverygoodreasons(asymmetricalability,andpriming)thatmakepeoplefeeldifferentspeakingtheirdifferentlanguages.Wearestillleftwithathirdkindofargument,though.AneconomistrecentlyinterviewedhereatProspero,AthanasiaChalari,saidforexamplethat:Greeksareveryloudandtheyinterrupteachotherveryoften.ThereasonforthatistheGreekgrammarandsyntax.WhenGreekstalktheybegintheirsentenceswithverbsandtheformoftheverbincludesalotofinformationsoyoualreadyknowwhattheyaretalkingaboutafterthefirstwordandcaninterruptmoreeasily.(8)IstheresomethingintrinsictotheGreeklanguagethatencouragesGreekstointerrupt?Peopleseemtoenjoytellingtalesabouttheirlanguages’inherentproperties,andhowtheyinfluencetheirspeakers.AgroupofFrenchintellectualworthiesonceproposed,ratherself-flatteringly,thatFrenchbethesolelegallanguageoftheEU,becauseofitssupposedlyunmatchablerigorandprecision.SomeGermansbelievethatfrequentlyputtingtheverbattheendofasentencemakesthelanguageespeciallylogical.Butlanguagemythsarenotalwaysself-flattering:manyspeakersthinktheirlanguagesareunusuallyillogicalordifficult—witnesstheplethoraofbooksalongthelinesof"OnlyinEnglishdoyouparkonadrivewayanddriveonaparkway:Englishmustbethecraziestlanguageintheworld!"Wealsoseesomeunsurprisingoverlapwithnationalstereotypesandself-stereotypes:French,rigorous:German,logical:English,playful.Ofcourse.(9)Inthiscase,MsChalari,ascholar,atleastproposedaspecificandplausiblelineofcausationfromgrammartopersonality:inGreek,theverbcomesfirst,anditcarriesalotofinformation,henceeasyinterrupting.Theproblemisthatmanyunrelatedlanguagesallaroundtheworldputtheverbatthebeginningofsentences.Manylanguagesallaroundtheworldareheavilyinflected,encodinglotsofinformationinverbs.Itwouldbeastrikingfindingifalloftheseunrelatedlanguageshadspeakersmorepronetointerruptingeachother.Welsh,forexample,isalsobothverb-firstandaboutasheavilyinflectedasGreek,buttheWelsharenotknownaspushyconversationalists.问:Accordingtotheauthor,whichofthefollowingadvantagesofbilingualismiscommonlyaccepted?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节理解题。根据题干关键词advantages和commonly accepted定位至文章第一段首句。作者在该句中列举了三个人们普遍接受的使用双语的益处,包括能够更好地完成某些特定的任务,年老时预防老年痴呆,以及可以讲另一种语言,可见,其中第一点与[B]的表述相一致,故[B]为正确答案。在作者提及的三种公认的优势中,没有涉及性格改善和世界观的改变,且第一段最后一句提及的也只是讲多种语言的人在说不同的语言时展现不同的性格和世界观,而不是会使性格改善或改变世界观,故排除[A]和[C];而关于老年病,原文提到,双语使用可以带来的益处是better defense“更好的预防”,而不可等同于avoidance“避免”,故排除[D]。