单选题 Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so. But some things we do know.
First, we know that all human beings have a language of some sort. There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language. And, in historical times, there has never been a race of men without a language.
Second, there is no such thing as a primitive language. There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped, who are, as we say, uncivilized, but the languages they speak are not primitive. In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing. This has not always been well understood; indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated. Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate. Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises. Study has proved this to be nonsense. There are, or were, hundreds of American Indian languages, and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with, but they are no more primitive than. English and Greek.
A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate. That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language.
Finally, we know that language changes. It is natural and normal for language to changes the only languages which do not change are the dead ones. This is easy to understand if we look backward in time. Change goes on in all aspects of language. Grammatical features change as do speech sounds, and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.

单选题 In the second paragraph the author thinks that .

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 在第二段中，首句we know that human beings have a language of some sort(我们知道所有的人类都有某种形式的语言)是其主题句，其后的There is no race of men anywhere on earth so back ward that it has no language.(世界上任何地方没有哪个民族落后到连语言都没有。)进一步说明了这个主题。
[避错] A“一些落后的种族没有自己的语言”、B“历史上某个民族没有自己的语言”、D“地球上有些民族可以不通过语言进行交际”，这三个选项的表述都与第二段的主旨相悖。

单选题 According to the author, people of undeveloped cultures can have languages.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 在文章的第三段第二、三句作者提到：There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped， who are，as we say，uncivilized，but the languages they speak are not primitive. In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing.(有许多文化不发达的民族，也就是我们所说的不文明民族，他们的语言却并不简单。在所有的已知语言中，我们可以看到发展了几千年的复杂性。)也就是说作者认为许多文化不发达的民族其语言却具有复杂性。
[避错] B“未开化的”、C“原始的”均与原文含义相悖；D“众所周知的”原文并没有提及。

单选题 The author has used American Indian languages as an example to show that they are .

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的American Indian Languages定位到文章第三段，本段最后作者说到They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with，but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.(当然，这些印第安语与我们多数人熟悉的那些语言不同，但是它们一点也不比英语和希腊语原始。)可以看出作者列举美国印第安人的语言的目的是证明这些语言和一些著名的语言一样高级。sophisticated的意思是”复杂的；先进的”。
[避错] A“和一些著名的语言一样古老”、C“比一些著名的语言先进”、D“比一些著名的语言复杂”都不是作者想要说明的意图。

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT true?

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] D“一些语言要优于另外一些语言”是错误的，因为作者在第三段的观点是不同的语言没有好与坏的差别，注意本题要选择的是错误项。
[避错] 由第四段each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language可知，A“语言是表示特定文化的方式”以及B“所有的语言都能很好地表达各自的文化”的表述是正确的。由第三段末句but they are no more primitive than English and Greek可知，C“美国印第安人的语言和英语一样复杂”的说法也是正确的。