单选题
Someoftheadvantagesofbilingualismincludebetterperformanceattasksinvolving"executivefunction"(whichinvolvesthebrain’sabilitytoplanandprioritize),betterdefenseagainstdementiainoldageand—theobvious—theabilitytospeakasecondlanguage.Onepurportedadvantagewasnotmentioned,though.Manymultilingualsreportdifferentpersonalities,orevendifferentworldviews,whentheyspeaktheirdifferentlanguages.(2)It’sanexcitingnotion,theideathatone’sveryselfcouldbebroadenedbythemasteryoftwoormorelanguages.Inobviousways(exposuretonewfriends,literatureandsoforth)theselfreallyisbroadened.Yetitisdifferenttoclaim—asmanypeopledo—tohaveadifferentpersonalitywhenusingadifferentlanguage.AformerEconomistcolleague,forexample,reportedbeingruderinHebrewthaninEnglish.Sowhatisgoingonhere?(3)BenjaminLeeWhorf,anAmericanlinguistwhodiedin1941,heldthateachlanguageencodesaworldviewthatsignificantlyinfluencesitsspeakers.Oftencalled"Whorfianism",thisideahasitssceptics,buttherearestillgoodreasonstobelievelanguageshapesthought.(4)Thisinfluenceisnotnecessarilylinkedtothevocabularyorgrammarofasecondlanguage.Significantly,mostpeoplearenotsymmetricallybilingual.Manyhavelearnedonelanguageathomefromparents,andanotherlaterinlife,usuallyatschool.Sobilingualsusuallyhavedifferentstrengthsandweaknessesintheirdifferentlanguages—andtheyarenotalwaysbestintheirfirstlanguage.Forexample,whentestedinaforeignlanguage,peoplearelesslikelytofallintoacognitivetrap(answeringatestquestionwithanobvious-seemingbutwronganswer)thanwhentestedintheirnativelanguage.Inpartthisisbecauseworkinginasecondlanguageslowsdownthethinking.Nowonderpeoplefeeldifferentwhenspeakingthem.Andnowondertheyfeellooser,morespontaneous,perhapsmoreassertiveorfunnierorblunter,inthelanguagetheywererearedinfromchildhood.(5)Whatof"crib"bilinguals,raisedintwolanguages?Eventheydonotusuallyhaveperfectlysymmetricalcompetenceintheirtwolanguages.Butevenforaspeakerwhosetwolanguagesareverynearlythesameinability,thereisanotherbigreasonthatpersonwillfeeldifferentinthetwolanguages.Thisisbecausethereisanimportantdistinctionbetweenbilingualismandbiculturalism.(6)Manybilingualsarenotbicultural.Butsomeare.Andofthosebiculturalbilinguals,weshouldbelittlesurprisedthattheyfeeldifferentintheirtwolanguages.Experimentsinpsychologyhaveshownthepowerof"priming"—smallunnoticedfactorsthatcanaffectbehaviorinbigways.Askingpeopletotellahappystory,forexample,willputtheminabettermood.Thechoicebetweentwolanguagesisahugeprime.SpeakingSpanishratherthanEnglish,forabilingualandbiculturalPuertoRicaninNewYork,mightconjurefeelingsoffamilyandhome.SwitchingtoEnglishmightprimethesamepersontothinkofschoolandwork.(7)Sotherearetwoverygoodreasons(asymmetricalability,andpriming)thatmakepeoplefeeldifferentspeakingtheirdifferentlanguages.Wearestillleftwithathirdkindofargument,though.AneconomistrecentlyinterviewedhereatProspero,AthanasiaChalari,saidforexamplethat:Greeksareveryloudandtheyinterrupteachotherveryoften.ThereasonforthatistheGreekgrammarandsyntax.WhenGreekstalktheybegintheirsentenceswithverbsandtheformoftheverbincludesalotofinformationsoyoualreadyknowwhattheyaretalkingaboutafterthefirstwordandcaninterruptmoreeasily.(8)IstheresomethingintrinsictotheGreeklanguagethatencouragesGreekstointerrupt?Peopleseemtoenjoytellingtalesabouttheirlanguages’inherentproperties,andhowtheyinfluencetheirspeakers.AgroupofFrenchintellectualworthiesonceproposed,ratherself-flatteringly,thatFrenchbethesolelegallanguageoftheEU,becauseofitssupposedlyunmatchablerigorandprecision.SomeGermansbelievethatfrequentlyputtingtheverbattheendofasentencemakesthelanguageespeciallylogical.Butlanguagemythsarenotalwaysself-flattering:manyspeakersthinktheirlanguagesareunusuallyillogicalordifficult—witnesstheplethoraofbooksalongthelinesof"OnlyinEnglishdoyouparkonadrivewayanddriveonaparkway:Englishmustbethecraziestlanguageintheworld!"Wealsoseesomeunsurprisingoverlapwithnationalstereotypesandself-stereotypes:French,rigorous:German,logical:English,playful.Ofcourse.(9)Inthiscase,MsChalari,ascholar,atleastproposedaspecificandplausiblelineofcausationfromgrammartopersonality:inGreek,theverbcomesfirst,anditcarriesalotofinformation,henceeasyinterrupting.Theproblemisthatmanyunrelatedlanguagesallaroundtheworldputtheverbatthebeginningofsentences.Manylanguagesallaroundtheworldareheavilyinflected,encodinglotsofinformationinverbs.Itwouldbeastrikingfindingifalloftheseunrelatedlanguageshadspeakersmorepronetointerruptingeachother.Welsh,forexample,isalsobothverb-firstandaboutasheavilyinflectedasGreek,buttheWelsharenotknownaspushyconversationalists.问:WhichofthefollowingstatementsconcerningPara.9iscorrect?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】推理判断题。根据题干提示定位至第九段。作者在第九段中试图回答第八段的问题:希腊语以信息量丰富的动词开头的特点,会不会是希腊人喜欢抢话的原因?换言之,不同的语法特点是否是导致人们在行为上和性格上的一些不同表现呢?从作者所举的威尔士语语法特点和威尔士人交谈表现的事例可知,作者对此是持否定态度的,也就是说语法未必是性格变化的原因和条件,故[C]为正确答案。查拉瑞用希腊语为例子说明语言与性格的关系,而第九段第二句以后作者所谈到的内容说明,查拉瑞的理论是站不住脚的,故排除[A];[B]“很多其他语言的使用者也容易打断人说话”在原文中并没有提及,故排除;定位段第三句说,全球有很多语言都是动词有屈折变化,且信息量丰富的,也就是说与希腊语有相似的特点,可见[D]的表述与原文意义相反,故排除。