【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 21-25 Half of the 6,000 or so languages spoken in the world are under threat and a wealth of human knowledge could be lost with them, according to a new study. The study says pressures from dominant languages such as English, French, Spanish and Russian are drowning out minority tongues at an accelerating pace. "The dying and disappearance of languages has been going on for thousands of years as a natural event in human society, but at a slow rate," says the study funded by UNESCO. "However, the past 300 years or so have seen a dramatic increase in the death or disappearance of languages leading to a situation today in which 3,000 or so languages that are still spoken are endangered, seriously endangered or dying." The study cites several reasons for the disappearance of languages, ranging from repressive government policies and assimilation to economic pressures, migratory trends, disease and natural disasters. While sounding the alarm, it notes that a determined multilingual approach can rescue even the most threatened tongues. In Japan, only eight elderly people spoke Ainu on Hokkaido Island by the late 1980s after decades of official neglect, but promotional policies have since revived the language. [分析] 主旨题。 原文第一句指出研究表明世界上大约6000种语言中有一半正在消亡的危险中，而且人类知识也会随消亡的语言而消失，接着作者具体介绍了语言消亡的情况，分析了语言消亡的原因和某些国家为拯救语言所采取的措施及效果等。总之，本文内容均与语言的消亡有关。由此可见，虽然A项“加速语言消亡的原因”和D项“政府的语言政策”都与本文主题有关，但A、D所述只是文章所谈论的内容之一，只有C项含义“语言消亡加速”与全文主要内容相符，概括适度，是正确答案。 [解题关键] 重点把握篇章的首句，一般该句点明全篇主题。

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 数字信息的找寻和判断。 根据题干中关键词可定位到原文相关信息Half of the 6，000 or so languages spoken in the world are under threat，由此可推测应该大约3000种语言正面临险境。 [解题关键] 掌握与数字相关的短语表达，才能对文中数字概念作出正确判断。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节的找寻和判断。 综合文中提到的语言，如English，French，Spanish and Russian和Ainu，可判断只有B项“德语”没有在文中提到。因此该项是正确答案。 [解题关键] 根据题干特点，重点听文中关于语言的专有名词。

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 逻辑关系的找寻和判断。 原文中提到Ainu这种语言时说While sounding the alarm，it notes that a determined multilingual approach can rescue even the most threatened tongues 即执行坚定的多语政策可拯救最受消亡威胁的语言。通过上下文可知，该句是后一句的主题，下面一句以日本为例说明该国对濒临灭绝的Ainu实施的推广政策，使该语言得到复兴。显然C项的说法符合上下文的逻辑关系，是正确答案。 [解题关键] 把握文章主题句和支持性细节的关系有助于判断上下文内容间的逻辑关系。

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 事实细节的找寻和判断。 根据原文However，the past 300 years or so have seen a dramatic increase in the death or disappearance of languages... 可知，某些语言的加速消亡是近300年来出现的事情。因此 B的说法“语言的加速消亡200年前才开始出现”与原文不符，是正确答案。 [解题关键] 掌握某些词汇或短语的同义替换，是事实细节找寻和判断的重要手段。如本题中需掌握原文中a dramatic increase与选项中acceleration是同义替换。