单选题

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?

A、 Personality improvement.
B、 Better task performance.
C、 Change of worldviews.
D、 Avoidance of old-age disease.

【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]。

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：Accordingtothepassage,thatlanguageinfluencesthoughtmayberelatedto______.

A、 the vocabulary of a second language
B、 the grammar of a second language
C、 the improved test performance in a second language
D、 the slowdown of thinking in a second language

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】推理判断题。根据题干关键词language influences thought定位至文章第四段。在该段中，作者指出语言对思维的影响与词汇和语法并没有关联，随后举例说明，人们在用第二语言进行考试时，反而不容易落入一些出题人设置的陷阱，在本段第六句中，作者指出使用第二语言会让人们放缓思维速度，故[D]为答案。关于语言对思维的影响，作者在第四段开头就明确指出，这未必与第二语言的词汇和语法相关，故排除[A]和[B]；使用第二语言进行的考试表现是否有进步，原文并没有提及，故排除[C]。

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：Whatistheauthor’sresponsetothequestionatthebeginningofPara.8?

A、 It’s just one of the popular tales of national stereotypes.
B、 Some properties inherent can make a language logical.
C、 German and French are good examples of Whorfianism.
D、 There is adequate evidence to support a positive answer.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】推理判断题。根据题干提示定位至第八段。作者在该段开头提出一个问题，希腊人喜欢彼此打断，这是不是因为希腊语有些固有特性使然呢?作者并没有立刻给出明确的答复，而是在随后举例说明人们对于某些语言的特点有一些固有的看法和传言，到第九段作者才又重新回到这个问题，并指出，与希腊语具有相似特点的威尔士语的使用者们，并没有像希腊人一样喜欢抢话头，可见，作者认为希腊语动词开头的特点就会导致希腊人说话争先恐后的习惯和第八段所举的那些例子一样，都只是一些关于语言的老生常谈和传言，并没有切实的依据，这与[A]表述一致，故为正确答案。作者在探讨语言固有特点时说，人们喜欢用一些传说，并在其后举了法国人和德国人的例子，这就表明，对于“将动词置于句末就会增加语言的逻辑性”这样的看法，作者并不认同，故排除[B]；沃尔夫主义涉及的是语言与世界观的问题，与第八段的话题不相关，故排除[C]；从上述分析可知，作者对于语言固有特点会造成语言使用者特定性格和举止的问题，是持否定态度的，故排除[D]。

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：WhichofthefollowingstatementsconcerningPara.9iscorrect?

A、 Ms Chalari’s theory about the Greek language is well grounded.
B、 Speakers of many other languages are also prone to interrupting.
C、 Grammar is unnecessarily a condition for change in personality.
D、 Many unrelated languages don’t have the same features as Greek.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】推理判断题。根据题干提示定位至第九段。作者在第九段中试图回答第八段的问题：希腊语以信息量丰富的动词开头的特点，会不会是希腊人喜欢抢话的原因?换言之，不同的语法特点是否是导致人们在行为上和性格上的一些不同表现呢?从作者所举的威尔士语语法特点和威尔士人交谈表现的事例可知，作者对此是持否定态度的，也就是说语法未必是性格变化的原因和条件，故[C]为正确答案。查拉瑞用希腊语为例子说明语言与性格的关系，而第九段第二句以后作者所谈到的内容说明，查拉瑞的理论是站不住脚的，故排除[A]；[B]“很多其他语言的使用者也容易打断人说话”在原文中并没有提及，故排除；定位段第三句说，全球有很多语言都是动词有屈折变化，且信息量丰富的，也就是说与希腊语有相似的特点，可见[D]的表述与原文意义相反，故排除。

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：Indiscussingtheissue,theauthor’sattitudeis______.

A、 satirical
B、 objective
C、 critical
D、 ambivalent

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】观点态度题。本题解答需综合全文的主要信息。文章开头提出了使用双语会有一些明显的优势，进而提出一个问题，语言会不会像一些双语使用者所感觉到的那样，改变人们的性格和世界观呢，在其后的段落中，作者深入探讨了双语对人们思维的影响，而其论述多是通过引用观点、列举事例等方法，很少直接评述，可见其在探讨论题时，所持的态度是客观的，故[B]为正确答案。由上述分析可知，作者是在探讨一个学术话题，论述方式是提出问题，试图加以回答，且多方引用他人的观点，没有掺杂任何情感因素，也没有对任何观点进行评判，故排除[A]“讽刺的”和[C]“批评的”；作者在文末引用知名学者的观点，对文中提出的论题给出了确定的答案，故排除[D]“模棱两可的”。