单选题
Culture is the sum total of all the traditions, customs,
beliefs, and ways of life of a given group of human beings. In this sense, every
group has a culture, however savage, undeveloped, or uncivilized it may seem to
us. To the professional anthropologist, there is no intrinsic
superiority of one culture over another, just as to the professional linguist
there is no intrinsic hierarchy among languages. People once
thought of the languages of backward groups as savage, undeveloped forms
of speech, consisting largely of grunts and groans. While it is possible that
language in general began as a series of grunts and groans, it is a fact
established by the study of "backward" languages that no spoken tongue answers
that description today. Most languages of uncivilized groups are, by our most
severe standards, extremely complex, delicate, and ingenious pieces of machinery
for the transfer of ideas. They fall behind our Western languages not in their
sound patterns or grammatical structures, which usually are fully adequate for
all language needs, but only in their vocabularies, which reflect the objects
and activities known to their speakers. Even in this department, however, two
things are to be noted: 1. All languages seem to possess the machinery for
vocabulary expansion, either by putting together words already in existence or
by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own system. 2.
The objects and activities requiring names and distinctions in "backward"
languages, while different from ours, are often surprisingly numerous and
complicated. A Western language distinguishes merely between two degrees of
remoteness ("this" and "that"); some languages of the American Indians
distinguish between what is close to the speaker, or to the person addressed, or
removed .from both, or out of sight, or in the past, or in the future.
This study of language, in turn, casts a new light upon the claim of the
anthropologist that all cultures are to be viewed independently and without
ideas of rank or hierarchy.
单选题
The definition of culture is mentioned here to______.
A. indicate the theme of the passage
B. explain why every group has a culture of its own
C. introduce the similarity of non-superiority in culture and language
D. start up the speech
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】
单选题
The languages of the so-called "undeveloped or uncivilized groups" fall
behind the Western languages in______.
A. their discourse organization
B. their grammatical structure
C. their phonetic system
D. the size of their lexicon
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】
单选题
"This" and "that" is mentioned in the third paragraph to
indicate______.
A. that there is no superiority of one language over another
B. the inadequacy of the Western languages
C. the complexity of some American Indian languages
D. the backwardness of the Western languages
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】
单选题
"Machinery" in the third paragraph refers to______.
A. machines
B. elements
C. systems
D. devices
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】
单选题
We can infer from the text that
A. all languages are fully developed
B. the linguists did better jobs than the anthropologists
C. the evidences discovered by linguists reinforced the assumption of the
anthropologists
D. the prejudice of the professional linguists prevent them from arriving at
the correct conclusion