Culture is the sum total of all the traditions, customs, beliefs, and ways of life of a given group of human beings. In this sense, every group has a culture, however savage, undeveloped, or uncivilized it may seem to us. To the professional anthropologist, there is no intrinsic superiority of one culture over another, just as to the professional linguist there is no intrinsic hierarchy among languages. People once thought of the languages of backward group as savage, undeveloped forms of speech, consisting largely of grunts and groans. While it is possible that languages in general began as a series of grunts and groans. It is a fact established by the study of "backward" languages that no spoken tongue answers that description today. Most languages of uncivilized groups are, by our most severe standards, extremely complex, delicate, and ingenious pieces of machinery for the transfer of ideas. They fall behind our Western languages not in their sound patterns or grammatical structures, which usually are fully adequate for all language needs, but only in their vocabularies, which reflect the objects and activities known to their speakers. Even in this department, however, two things are to be noted: 1. All languages seem to possess the machinery for vocabulary expansion, whether by putting together words already in existence or by borrowing them from other languages and adapting them to their own systems. 2. The objects and activities requiring names and distinctions for "backward" languages, while different from ours, are often surprisingly numerous and complicated. A Western language distinguishes between what is close to the speaker, or to the person addressed, or removed from both, or out of sight, or in the past, or in the future. This study of language, in turn, casts a new light upon the claim of the anthropologists that all cultures are to be viewed independently, and without ideas of rank or hierarchy.
单选题
The statement that "every group has a culture" grows out of the author"s ______.
单选题
The languages of uncivilized groups as compared to Western languages are limited in ______.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析:根据第三段第5句They fall behind our Western languages not in their sound patterns or grammatical structures,…,but only in their vocabulary。那些较不发达团体语言落后于西方语言的原因不在于其发音方式或语法结构,而在于其词汇。由此可知,答案选项正确。
单选题
The article states that grunt-and-groan forms of speech are found ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析:根据第三段第3句It is a fact established by the study of"backward" languages that no spoken tongue answers that description today.由此可知,语言发展之初时那种"哼哼"声的语言在现在已经不存在了。
单选题
According to the author, languages, whether civilized or not, have ______.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析:根据第三段倒数第3句All languages seem to possess the machinery for vocabulary expansion…所有的语言都有扩大词汇量的机制,即有扩大词汇的潜力,因此答案选项正确。
单选题
According to the article, some languages of American Indians are ______.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析:根据第三段后半部分内容,尤其最后一句A Western language distinguishes between what is close to the speaker,or to the person addressed,or removed from both,or out of sight,or in the past,or in the future.可以推出美国印第安人的一些语言可以区分两种不同事物,因此答案选项正确。