单选题
The writer mentions rainforests and the ozone layer
A. because he believes anxiety about environmental issues is
unfounded.
B. to demonstrate that academics in different disciplines share the same
problems.
C. because they exemplify what is wrong with the attitudes of some
academics.
D. to make the point that the public should be equally concerned about
languages.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】'Worried about the loss of rainforests and the ozone layer? Well, neither of those is doing any worse than a large majority of the 6,000 to 7,000 languages that remain in use on Earth.' [Distraction] A: The writer doesn't dismiss concern about environmental issues as unfounded; B: He doesn't say anything about the attitudes of academics in relation to 'the loss of rainforests and the ozone layer'; C: The text talks about different kinds of linguists but not academics in other subjects.
单选题
What does Nick Evans say about speakers of a creole?
A. They lose the ability to express ideas which are part of their
culture.
B. Older and younger members of the community have difficulty
communicating.
C. They express their ideas more clearly and concisely than most
people.
D. Accessing practical information causes problems for them.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】In the second paragraph Evans says 'speakers become less able to express the wealth of knowledge that has filled ancestors' lives with meaning [= ideas are part of their culture]'. [Distraction] B: Evans suggests that the lost language has a better vocabulary for the landscape than the creole, but he does not mention speakers of a creole not understanding older. members of the community; C: The 'few words' are mentioned to illustrate how the range of vocabulary in the creole is poorer than the original language, not that it is clearer or more concise; D: The writer doesn't mention accessing practical information.
单选题
What is similar about West Africa and South America, from the
linguist's point of view?
A. The English language is widely used by academics and teachers.
B. The documentary linguists who work there were trained by
Australians.
C. Local languages are disappearing rapidly in both places.
D. There are now only a few undocumented languages there.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】In the third paragraph the writer says '… language-loss hotspots such as West Africa and South America'. (The metaphor 'hotspot' can mean somewhere where there is a lot of activity, so a 'language-loss hotspot' is a place experiencing severe problems with language loss.) [Distraction] A: The text refers to the training of linguists in England as well as these places; it doesn't mention the language used by linguists in these countries; B: Austin, who heads the programme, is Australian, but 'programme' implies other trainers as well, whose nationality is not mentioned. Therefore we don't know that the linguists were all trained by Australians; D: The fact that 'many documentary linguists' have been trained there does not tell us how many undocumented languages there are.
单选题
Michael Krauss has frequently pointed out that
A. linguists are failing to record languages before they die out.
B. linguists have made poor use of improvements in technology.
C. linguistics has declined in popularity as an academic subject.
D. linguistics departments are underfunded in most universities.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】The fourth paragraph says 'Michael Krauss … has often complained that linguists are playing with non-essentials [= technologies] while most of their raw data is disappearing'. [Distraction] B: Krauss is one of the 'endangered-language specialists' who do not think this use of technology is what is needed; C: It is the 'raw data' that is declining. Krauss's opinion about the numbers of people interested in studying linguistics is not mentioned; D: Krauss's opinion about funding in universities is not mentioned.