单选题
Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique—a speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw new light on an old scientific controversy: Whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born with, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world's only liberal arts university for deaf people. When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: Among themselves, students signed differently from his classroom teacher. Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language(ASL)was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English(混杂英语). But Stokoe believed the "hand talk" his students used looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually have a genuine language? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth? It was 1955, when even deaf people dismissed their signing as "substandard". Stokoe's idea was academic heresy(异端邪说). It is 37 years later. Stokoe—now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture—is having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modulation(调节)of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the modulation of space. "What I said," Stokoe explains, "is that language is not mouth stuff—it's brain stuff."
单选题
The study of sign language is thought to be( ).
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：细节理解题。第一段的第三句话：“They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates andunderstands language，and throw new light on an old scientific controversy：Whether language，complete with grammar,is something that we are born with，or whether it is a learned behavior．”句意是：手语提供了一种新方式来探索大脑生成和理解语言的方式，同时也为一个古老的问题提供了新的思维，这个古老的问题是“语言是与生俱来的还是后天习得的”。故选B。
单选题
The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by( ).
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：细节理解题。第一段的最后一句话“The current interest in sign language has roots in thepioneering work of one rebel teacher”，这里的has roots in词组是指“根源于”，和题目里的stimulated意思相近。可以看到这位先驱是一位教师(one rebel teacher)，其所在的学校是专门教育聋人的文科大学(liberal artsuniversity for deaf people)。这位老师是教授什么科目的呢?下一段开头给出了答案“When Bill Stokoe went toGallaudet to teach English”，科目是英语。答案应为C。
单选题
According to Stokoe, sign language is( ).
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：推理判断题。第三段中的“He wondered：Might deaf people actually have a genuinelanguage?”这里虽然使用了疑问句的形式，但实际上是Stokoe的观点所在。根据该段最后一句话“Stokoe’s ideawas academic heresy”，如果Stokoe没有形成“手语是一种真正的语言”的观点，文章又为何会说他的思想被视为异端邪说呢?可以判断B的说法是正确的。
单选题
Most educators objected to Stokoe's idea because they thought( ).
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：细节理解题。最后一段中间部分“Fordecades educators fought his idea that signed languagesare natural languages like English，French and Japanese．They assumed language must be based on speech，themodulation of sound．”第一句意思是教育家们反对手语和英语、法语、日语一样属于自然语言，第二句指明了教育家们自己的观点：语言必须基于语言。be based on是“以……为基础”的意思，意义等同于D所说的only exist。这样D的说法就和原文一致，是正确答案。
单选题
Stokoe's argument is based on his belief that( ).
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：细节理解题。最后一段引用了Stokoe的原话，提到“language is not mouth stuff—it’sbrain stuff”，大体意思是语言不是嘴上的东西，而是脑子的东西就是答案。观察四个选项，D的说法和it’s brainstuff意义基本一致，可以判断D就是正确答案。再观察其他三个选项，在文章关于Stokoe的叙述中都没有提到过，可以排除。