阅读理解
Every two weeks a language disappears. By 2100 nearly half of the 6,000 spoken today may be gone. Migration, either between countries or from the countryside to cities, is one reason: though new arrivals generally stick with their mother tongue, at least at home, their children rarely do. The dominance of English is another. But one tongue against the trend is Romani, spoken by 4m of the roughly 11m Roma people worldwide. Its health attests to the importance of language in shaping identity. Unlike most languages, Romani has no country to call home. Its roots lie in India, but since the 10th century its speakers have scattered and kept moving. One result is that they are everywhere a linguistic minority. Another is that 150 different dialects are in use. "Anglo-Romani" , spoken in Britain, differs widely from dialects in France, Bulgaria and Latvia. One Roma man in New Zealand speaks a dialect previously only heard in Wales. The 290,000 native Swedish speakers in Finland show no signs of dropping their language—but it is their country's second official one, compulsory in all schools and spoken by 9.5m Swedes next door. Irish hangs on partly because of government spending on translating road signs and documents, broadcasting, teaching and extra marks for brave students who use the tongue in their final school exams. But without a government to champion it, Romani is used mostly in the home. Academics and linguists have written it down and tried to standardise it, but many of those who speak it do not read it. America printed a Romani guide to its 2000 census form, but that is a rarity; it almost never features in official documents. The lack of texts complicates attempts to teach it formally. Roma Kulturklass, a Swedish Roma-ni-language school, is one of a handful in the world. Its 35 pupils study everything except Swedish and English in both Romani and Swedish. But with few textbooks, says Angelina Dimiter Taikon, the head teacher, staff must make do with their own translations.
单选题1.We learn from the first paragraph that______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】选项[A]和[B]对应第一段二、三两句：By 2100 nearly half of the 6，000 spoken to—day may be gone．Migration，either between countries or from the countryside to cities，is one rea-son．可见迁徙是语言消失的原因之一。选项[A]中的thriving显然与原文不符。选项[B]与原文“By 2100 neady half of the 6，000 spoken today may be gone．到2100年，今天所用的6000种语言接近一半会消失”也不符，故错误。选项[C]与原文“But one tongue against the trend is Ro-mani，spoken by 4m of the roughly 11m Roma people worldwide”一句不一致，故错误。选项[D]则对应本段第二行：though new arrivals generally stick with their mother tongue，at least at home，their children rarely do．可见该项“children seldom speak mother tongue at home”的表述是正确的。
单选题2.Which one is true about Romani?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】根据选项[C]中的150 dialects可以定位到第二段。选项[A]对应第二段第二句：Its roots lie in India，but since the 10th century its speakers have scattered and kept moving．其中scattered(分散，分布)对应spread；第三句的everywhere对应all over the world。故该项原文有提到，是正确选项。选项[B]的“spoken by a large group of people”与第三句“One result is thatthey are everywhere a linguistic minority”中的linguistic minority不符，故错误。选项[C]对应“Another is that 150 different dialects are in use”一句，其中“have died down已经消失”与原文“are in use仍在使用”不符，故错误。选项[D]中的widely spoken与选项[B]中的spoken by alarge group of people意思是一样的，故该项也是错误的。综上所述，答案为选项[A]。
单选题3.Romani is usually used at home because______.
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】根据题干中的Romani，used at home定位到第四段第一行的“Romani is used mostlyin the home”一句。该题的答案来自本句的前半句，即“without a government to champion it”。该句大意为：如果没有政府倡导，吉普赛语大多数时候只能在家里使用。故本题答案为选项[B]。
单选题4.Romani is hard to teach because______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】根据Romani，hard to teach等信息定位到第五段首句：The lack of texts complicatesattempts to teach it formally．而该题答案也是出自这个句子。其中，complicates(使复杂)对应hard。而使Romani不容易教的原因是“the lack of texts缺少教科书”，而该信息对应选项[C]the written language is insufficient。其中，written language(书面语言)对应texts(教科书)；insuf-ficient(不足的)对应lack(缺乏)。故选项[C]为本题答案。