Linguists have understood for decades that language and thought are closely
relat- ed. Humans construct reality using thought and express these thoughts
through the use of language. Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorl are
credited with developing the most relevant explanation outlining the
relationship between thought and language, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The
hypothesis consists of two parts, linguistic relativity and lin guistic
determinism. Supporters of linguistic relativity assume that culture is shaped
by lan guage. Terwilliger defines linguistic determinism as the process by which
"the functions of one's mind are determined by the nature of the language which
one speaks. " In simpler terms, the thoughts that we construct are based upon
the language that we speak and the words that we use. In its strongest sense,
linguistic determinism can be interpreted as meaning that language determines
thought. In its weakest sense, language partially influ ences thought. Whorl was
careful to avoid authoritative statements which would perma nently commit him to
particular position. Because of the broad nature of his
statements, it is difficult to distinguish exactly to what extent Whorl believes
that language determines thought. Heated debate among mod ern linguists
demonstrates that disagreement exists about the accuracy and correctness of
Whorf's studies and of the actual level of influence of language on thought
processes. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis essentially consists of
two distinct statements connecting the relation of thought and language. Whorl
believes that humans may be able to think only about objects, processes, and
conditions that have language associated with them. The Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis also explains the relationship between different
languages (French, English, German, Chinese, and so on) and thought. Whorl
demonstrated that culture is largely determined by language. Different cultures
perceive the world in different ways. Culturally essential objects, conditions
and processes usually are defined by a pleth ora of words, while things that
cultures perceive as unimportant are usually assigned one or two words. Whorl
developed this theory while studying the Hopi Indian tribe. Whorl was amazed
that the Hopi language has no words for past, present, and future. The Hopi have
only one word for flying objects. A dragonfly, an airplane, and a pilot are
defined using the same word. Whorl questioned whether or not the Hopi view the
world differently than western peoples. After further interpretation and
analysis he concluded that the Hopi have a sense for the continuum of time
despite having no words to specifically describe past, present, and
future. It is commonly believed that the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
possesses some truth, but the extent to which it is applicable to all situations
is questioned. Linguists generally sup port a "strong" or a "weak"
interpretation. Linguists who study the hypothesis tend to cite examples that
support their beliefs but are unable or unwilling to refute the opposing
arguments. Examples exist that strengthen the arguments of everyone who studies
the hy pothesis. Nobody has gained significant ground in proving or refuting the
hypothesis be cause the definitions of Sapir and Whorl are very vague and
incomplete, leaving room for a significant amount of interpretation.
单选题
Advocates of linguistic determinism insist that______.
A. the realities constructed through different languages are different
B. language and thought are intimately related to each other
C. culture is shaped by language through which it expresses itself
D. both the culture and the mind determine the language to be used
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的依据句是文章第一段的“Terwillger defines lingulistic determinism as…that we speak and the words that we use”从中可知，Terwilliger将语言决定论解释为一种过程，他认为人大脑的功能取决于他说的那种语言。由于全世界的语言不同，思维方式也有所差异。因此正确答案为A。
单选题
Whorf himself tends to hold that______.
A. culture is shaped by language
B. language determines thought
C. language partially influences thought
D. thoughts are based on language
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的依据句是第一段中的“Whorf was careful to avoicl authoritative state ments”。据此可知，不能选A、B和C项中这样明确的语言决定论和相对论的观点，只能选D。
单选题
According to the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, if a culture has more
expressions for certain concepts, it shows that______.
A. these concepts are more important than others
B. the culture is very much advanced and civilized
C. other concepts will be perceived as unimportant
D. these expressions developed earlier in the language
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题可参照文章第三段中作者提出的“Different cultures perceive the world…assigned one or two words．(不同文化以不同的方式审视世界。从文化方面来看， 一些重要的、必不可少的事物、条件、过程通常采用丰富的词汇来定义，而一些不重要的 事物常常仅用一两个单词表示)”。据此可推断出正确答案为A。
单选题
Which of the following criticisms is often made of the Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis?
A. It has no empirical evidence in its favor.
B. It is formulated on the basis of only one case study.
C. Its applicability has been greatly exaggerated.
D. No convincing examples can be found to support its claim.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题的依据句是第四段第一句的“It is commonly believed that…all situations is questioned．”从中可知，人们普遍认为Sapir-Whorf假设具有一定的真实性，但对该学 说能否适用于所有情况提出了质疑，后半句实际上暗指有人对该假设的用途过分夸大提出了批评。因此正确答案为C。
单选题
Towards the hypothesis, the author's attitude seems to be______.