唐立新
一、完形填空
閱讀下面短文,掌握其大意,然后從1~10各題所給的A、B、C和D項中,選出最佳選項。
According to a new study by Graddol, the percentage of the global population that grew up speaking English as its first language is declining. In the future, the Mandarin form of ___1___will probably be the next must-learn language.
In fact, the relative___2___of English is continuing. In the mid-20th century, nearly 9 percent of the worlds population spoke English as their first language. In 2050, the number is___3___ to be 5 percent.
Today, Mandarin Chinese is well established as the worlds largest language in terms of___4___speakers.
Graddol predicts that 90 percent of the roughly 6,000 existing languages may be doomed to extinction, with much of this loss happening in the ___5 ___century. One language may be lost every day. The major influence of English will be in___6___new generations of bilingual and multilingual speakers around the world. Businesses whose employees are not multilingual will find themselves at ___7 ___. In the next decade, the new___ 8___ language is likely to be Mandarin.
“When the Chinese economy has overtaken that of the United States, no one will be able to ignore its global power,”Graddol said. “We know from the past that great languages of science can be___9___. Latin was preeminent(超群的) when modern science began in the 17th century.”
In the future, the study predicts, most people will speak more than one language and will switch between languages for routine tasks. Monolingual English speakers may find it___10___ to fully participate in a multilingual society.
1. A. Chinese B. English
C. British D. Japanese
2. A. increase B. decrease
C. rise D. decline
3. A. estimated B. expected
C. suspected D. foretold
4. A. foreign B. academic
C. native D. language
5. A. coming B. last
C. On-going D. past
6. A. establishing B. originating
C. creating D. constructing
7. A. a disadvantage B. a loss
C. an advantage D. crossing
8. A. first B. must-learn
C. scientific D. working
9. A. defeated B. stopped dead
C. ignored D. overtaken
10. A. easy B. superior
C. difficult D. shameful
二、語法填空
閱讀下面短文,按照句子結(jié)構(gòu)的語法性和上下文連貫的要求,在空格處填入一個適當?shù)脑~或使用括號中詞語的正確形式填空。
How did the World Englishes develop? How do the various___11___ (vary) of English differ? Is there any one form of English that is‘better ___12___the others?
Countries using English as either a___13___ or a second language are located on all five continents, and the total population of these countries amounts to about 49% of the worlds population.
Whereas the English-speaking world was___14___(former)understood as a hierarchy(層級)of parent and___15___ (child), it is now seen rather as a family of varieties. The English of England, the___16___ (origin) source of all the World Englishes, is now seen___17___one of the‘familyof world English varieties, with its own peculiarities(特性) and its own distinctive vocabulary.
This awareness ___18___English consists of a family of different varieties is not a new phenomenon(現(xiàn)象), but goes back to the early 19th century; English Dictionary documented not___19___British English words, but also words from the varieties of English___20___ (find) in Australasia, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and North America.
三、閱讀理解
閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的A、B、C和D項中,選出最佳選項。
If you get tongue-tied when trying to learn a new language, your genes may be to blame, a new study suggests.
While there is no gene yet found that is responsible for preprogramming a person with a given language, there does appear to be a link between types of two genes and the languages people speak.
The new findings could be the first sign of a subtle(微妙的) effect in which peoples DNA could influence them toward learning a particular set of languages. These genes play a role in brain development and appear to still be evolving in humans .
In tonal languages, the same word can have widely different meanings depending on the inflection of the speaker.
While they didnt prove theres a direct link, they did reveal a strong connection between the versions of the two genes that people had and whether their native language was tonal or nontonal.
About half of all existing languages are tonal. In Mandarin Chinese, for example, the syllable “ma” can take on several unique meanings. When its pronounced with a single high-pitched tone, “ma” means “mother.” But when it has a low-pitched lilt in the middle, it means “horse”—making it a word you dont want to mispronounce.
The other half of all languages are nontonal, meaning they use pitch only for things like marking a question.
If your ancestors were from Southeast Asia or sub-Saharan Africa, where the native languages are nearly all tonal, you probably have the older versions of both genes.
If your ancestors were all from Europe, where people mostly speak nontonal languages, you probably have the new version and have a 50-50 chance of carrying the new gene.
The effects of these genetic markers might not be obvious in babies learning their native tongues. As far as anyone has been able to tell, babies can learn any language on Earth equally easily, as long as they are exposed to it from a very early age. But the differences could show up more strongly in adults struggling to learn a foreign language. Also, small differences created as children learn languages can add up over time to transform the way societies communicate.
21. From the text we can infer that the reason why Shakespeares English is different from todays is that_________.
A. children dont have quite the same language that their parents have
B. genes could not play a role in this phenomenon
C. children have the same language that their parents have
D. modern English is different from old English
22. What does the word“tongue-tied”in the sentence“If you get tongue-tied when trying to learn a new language, your genes may be to blame.”mean?
A. too shy or embarrassed not to open your mouth
B. your tongue is tied with your genes
C. remain silent
D. not able to speak because you are shy or nervous
23. According to the text, people learning English as a second or foreign language, they probably ______.
A. acquired the Language, Not Genes, From it
B. acquired genes, not the language from it
C. acquired both genes and the language from it
D. either acquired the language or genes from it
24. If there was really a gene for tone, you would expect______ .
A. even native speakers of a tone language to vary greatly in terms of their abilities to perceive (認知)or use tones in their languages
B. even non-native speakers of a tone language to vary greatly in terms of their abilities to perceive or use tones in their languages
C. even native speakers of a tone language to differ slightly in terms of their abilities to perceive or use tones in their languages
D. even non-native speakers of a tone language to differ slightly in terms of their abilities to perceive or use tones in their languages
25.The best headline of the passage might be______.
A. Genes May Influence Language Learning
B. There appears to be a link between genes and the languages people speak
C. Genes will play a very important role in language learning
D. Tonal languages and nontonal languages
四、信息匹配
閱讀下列應用文及相關(guān)信息,并按照要求匹配信息。請在答題卡上將對應題號的相應選項字母涂黑。
首先請閱讀下列有關(guān)英語背景知識的基本信息。
A.“English has borrowed words from over 350 other languages, and over three-quarters of the English lexicon is actually Classical or Romance in origin. Plainly, the view that to borrow words leads to a languages decline is absurd, given that English has borrowed more words than most.”
B. First-language speakers: 375 million
Second-language speakers: 375 million
Foreign-language speakers: 750 million
C.“English is now the language most widely taught as a foreign language——in over 100 countries, such as China, Russia, Germany, Spain, Egypt, and Brazil——and in most of these countries it is emerging as the chief foreign language to be encountered in schools, often displacing another language in the process.”
D.“The form OK or okay is probably the most intensively and widely used (and borrowed) word in the history of the language. Its many would-be etymologists have traced it variously to Cockney, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Norwegian, Scots, several African languages, and the Native American language Choctaw, as well as a number of personal names. All are imaginative feats without documentary support.”
E. This is a complicated question, as the definition of‘first language differs from place to place, according to each countrys history and local circumstances. “In all, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries (with a combined population of two billion people). It is estimated that one out of four people worldwide speak English with some degree of competence.”
F.“Today there are about six thousand languages in the world, and half of the worlds population speaks only ten of them. English is the single most dominant of these ten. British colonialism initiated the spread of English across the globe; it has been spoken nearly everywhere and has become even more prevalent since World War II, with the global reach of American power.”
請閱讀以下幾個問題,然后與上面的信息進行匹配。
26. In how many countries is English taught as a foreign language?
27. From how many other languages has English borrowed words?
28. What is the most widely used English word?
29. How many countries in the world have English as their first language?
30. How many people in the world today speak English?
五、基礎寫作
最近你剛學完第二單元的內(nèi)容,校報記者就“你在本單元所學到的英語背景知識”對你進行了一次采訪,以下是你回答的概要。
[寫作內(nèi)容]
請根據(jù)以上情況寫一篇英語短文。
[寫作要求]
只能使用5個句子表達全部內(nèi)容。
[評分標準]
句子結(jié)構(gòu)準確,信息內(nèi)容完整,篇章結(jié)構(gòu)連貫。
六、讀寫任務
閱讀下面的短文,然后按照要求寫一篇150詞左右的英語短文。
President Barack Obama had a tough-love message for fellow African-Americans on Thursday, urging black parents to push their children to think beyond dreams of being sports stars or rap music performers.
Obama said parents need to force their children to set aside the video games and get to bed at a reasonable hour, and push them to set their sights beyond such iconic figures as NBA star LeBron James and rap singer Lil Wayne.
“Our kids cant all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I want them aspiring to be president of the United States,”he said.
Obama noted that his own life could have taken a different path, had it not been for his mothers urgings.
“That mother of mine gave me love; she pushed me, and cared about my education,”he said.“She took no lip and taught me right from wrong. Because of her, I had a chance to make the most of my abilities. I had the chance to make the most of my opportunities. I had the chance to make the most of life.”
[寫作內(nèi)容]
1. 以約30個詞概括這段短文的內(nèi)容;
2. 然后以約120個詞就“Should Parents push their Children to Succeed?”進行議論,內(nèi)容包括:
(1)以你的切身經(jīng)歷,談談父母在孩子成長過程中所起到的作用。
(2)就“push”與“success”的關(guān)系,發(fā)表自己的看法。
(3)父母該不該push,怎樣做才能收到預期的效果,你的建議。
[寫作要求]
1. 在作文中可以使用自己親身的經(jīng)歷或虛構(gòu)的故事,也可以參照閱讀材料的內(nèi)容但不得直接引用原文中的句子;
2. 作文中不能出現(xiàn)真實姓名和學校名稱。
[評分標準]
概括準確,語言規(guī)范,內(nèi)容合適,篇章連貫。
答案與解析
一、完形填空
本文主要講英語逐漸失去主導地位,漢語將成為第二大主要語言。未來人類朝著bilingual或multilingual的社會發(fā)展。
1. A。根據(jù)Mandarin和Asia,還有上下文講漢語是第二必學語言可知,此處應為Chinese。
2. D。根據(jù)第一段和本段的后半部分可知,把英語作為第一語言的人數(shù)是在“衰落,下降”。decrease是指數(shù)目的減少,此處的被修飾詞是English。
3. B。答案是expected,意思是“預料,預期”。而estimated 是“估計,估算”的意思,一般以數(shù)據(jù)為依據(jù)。suspected 意思是“懷疑” ,foretold是“預言”之意。
4. C。世界上以漢語為本族語或母語的人數(shù)排第一。外來的和外國的都不符合上下文意思。
5. A。根據(jù)上下文,last和past都是過去,on-going是持續(xù)的。只有coming“即將到來的”符合。
6. C。Create是創(chuàng)造。Establish是建立,construct是建造,originate是發(fā)源。此處是“創(chuàng)造”新的一代人。
7. A。根據(jù)上下文,此處應該是處于“不利的,劣勢的地位”的意思。
8. B。Must-learn合成詞,意思是“必學的”的意思。
9. D。打敗,終止,忽略都不符合上下文意思。此處應該是“趕上,超過且壓倒”的意思。overtake最合適。
10. C。只講英語的人應該感到“難”以充分融進多語言的社會環(huán)境,肯定不“易”,更不會有“出眾,高傲的”的感覺。當然,也不至于感到“可恥的”。
二、語法填空
該文主要講述英語的發(fā)展。
11. varieties。此處用名詞,varieties意思是種類,多樣性。
12. than。better后當然用than表示比較。
13. first。根據(jù)邏輯關(guān)系,后邊是second,前邊該是first。
14. formerly。根據(jù)下文的now可知,對應的former位置該用副詞,所以,填formerly。
15. children。由英國和所屬殖民地的關(guān)系,可以想到parent(父母)對應的肯定是子女,按世界各地講英語的國家看,child不只一個,child的復數(shù)是children。
16. original。根據(jù)語法邏輯和構(gòu)詞法知識,此處用形容詞,origin的形容詞是original。
17. as。表示“被看作是……”,用be seen as。
18. that。引導同位語從句。
19. just/only。根據(jù)語法常識,“not only/just”是和“but also”構(gòu)成一個“不僅……而且……”的句型的。還有上一句的not...but句型也形成了對應關(guān)系。
20. found。過去分詞做后置定語。
三、閱讀理解
該文講述了一項研究表明,基因可能影響語言的學習。
21. A。推理判斷題。從文章可以推測,莎士比亞時代的英語和現(xiàn)代英語不同的原因。古英語和現(xiàn)代英語不同的選項是廢話,但干擾性很大。
22. D。詞義猜測題。選項A語法錯誤,容易受干擾,因為去掉not,解釋也對。
23. A。事實細節(jié)題。根據(jù)上下文,也可以說是根據(jù)常識,把語言當外語或第二語言來學只是學到表面的,內(nèi)在的所謂gene是native speakers靠繼承得來的。只有nativespeakers才可能acquire語言的genes。題干的理解是關(guān)鍵,second和foreign是核心詞匯。
24. A。邏輯推理題。就拿身邊的人來看,都講漢語,差別咋就那么大呢?跟認知能力有關(guān)。漢語是典型的tonal language,“媽馬罵麻”有幾個分得清?
25. A。主旨大意題。該題要注意問的是最佳標題。如果問main idea答案可能就是別的了。但肯定不是C。D也是標題的表達式,但與文章主旨不符。Tone和non-tone只是拿來說明主題的。一般主旨題的判斷第一段是核心點。
四、信息匹配
26—30CADEB
五、基礎寫作(one possible version)
English is spoken as a first language by more than 300 million people throughout the world, while many million more use it as a second language. One in five of the worlds population speaks English with a good level of competence, and within the next few years the number of people speaking English as a second language will exceed the number of native speakers, which could have a dramatic effect on the evolution of the language. In the process of being absorbed by new cultures, English develops to take account of local language needs, giving rise not just to new vocabulary but also to new forms of grammar and pronunciation. The main regional standards of English nowadays are British, US and Canadian, Australian and New Zealand, South African, Indian, and West Indian. Within each of these regional varieties a number of highly differentiated local dialects may be found. At the same time, however, a standardized‘global English is spread by the media and the Internet.
六、讀寫任務(one possible version)
We can learn from the above passage that education is the path to a better future while parents play an important role. Parents are responsible to teach their children how to be and push them to achieve success so they can make the most of life.
No one can deny that fact that parents are the first and best teacher for their children. Take me as an example, My parents taught me from the first moment I came to this world. They are the most important and influential teacher for me.
How far should parents push children to succeed? In my personal point of view, parents should view themselves more as enablers to the child, rather than push the child, parents should concentrate on opening doors to give the child options in life.
Just as Obama said, kids can't all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil Wayne, parents should push their children to think beyond dreams of being sports stars or rap music performers. Parents should be realistic about what the goal for success is. If the measurement of success is that a child receives a full ride scholarship to Beijing University when the child is in kindergarten, the push is not realistic.
Parents should limit the amount of pushing of their child to achieve success. High expectations are one thing; making the children think that parental approval will only be given when certain goals are met is another. Encourage your children to do their best not your unrealistic dreams.
責任編校蔣小青