问答题
The relation of language and mind has interested
philosophers for many centuries. {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}}
{{/U}}{{U}}The Greeks assumed that the structure of language had some connection
with the process of thought, which took root in Europe long before people
realized how diverse languages could be.{{/U}} Only recently did
linguists begin the serious study of languages that were very different from
their own. Two anthropologist-linguists, Franz Boas Edward Sapir, were pioneers
in describing many native languages of North and South America during the first
half of the twentieth century. {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}We
are obliged to them because some of them languages have since vanished, as the
peoples who spoke them died out or became assimilated and lost their native
languages.{{/U}} Other linguists in the earlier part of this century, however, who
were less eager to deal with bizarre data from "exotic" language, were not
always so grateful. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}The newly
described languages were often so strikingly different from the well studied
languages of Europe and Southeast Asia that some scholars even accused Boas and
Sapir of fabricating their data.{{/U}} Native American languages are indeed
different, so much so in fact that Navajo could be used by the US military as a
code during World War II to send secret messages. Sapir's
pupil, Benjamin Lee Whorf, continued the study of American Indian languages.
{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}{{U}}Being interested in the
relationship of language and thought, Whorl developed the idea that the
structure of language determines the structure of habitual thought in a
society.{{/U}} He reasoned that because it is easier to formulate certain concepts
and not others in a given language, the speakers of that language think along
one track and not along another. {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}}
{{/U}}{{U}}Whorf came to believe in a sort of linguistic determinism which in
its strongest form, states that language imprisons the mind, and that the
grammatical patterns in a language can produce far-reaching consequences for the
culture of a society.{{/U}} Later, this idea became to be known as the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis, but this term is somewhat inappropriate. Although both Sapir and
Whorf emphasized the diversity of languages, Sapir himself never explicitly
supported the notion of linguistic determinism.
【答案解析】[解析] 此句的结构并不难掌握，主要是准确表达其中的下面几个措辞：be obliged to“感激某人”；have since vanished“从那以后就消失了，不复存在了”；此处的since表示“从此以后”之意；die out“灭绝，完全的灭亡(cease living completely；become extinct)”；不宜译作“死亡，消失”。
【答案解析】[解析] 此句是5个试题中最难的一句。一是结构复杂，句中有句，一环套一环；二是一些词语不宜直译，in its strongest form“在其最强烈的形式下”；imprison“把…关在监狱中，囚禁”；far-reaching“伸得很远的”；都需要按汉语表达习惯在措辞上进行调整，才能翻译出正确的意思。