Speaking in Clicks
Click sounds, such as those found in some languages in Africa, make perfectly good consonants. So why do they appear so rarely in most human speech? One culprit may be anatomy(骨骼).
Previous studies have suggested that in some speakers of click languages, the alveolar ridge(齿龈) the rounded bump between the upper teeth and the roof of the mouth-is small or even absent. In recent research, Scott Moisik of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Dan Dediu of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, built biomechanical models that simulated clicks in vocal tracts(声道) with alveolar ridges of varying sizes. Their results, published in January in the Journal of Language Evolution, showed a clear disadvantage for tracts with large edges. These allowed less air to be trapped in the mouth, requiring more muscular force to produce a click.
The authors interpret this finding as support for an anatomical bias against clicks. They believe the bias is probably weak at the individual level; people with large alveolar ridges can still learn click consonants or that their pronunciations may be wrong. Amplified over generations, this bias might explain why such consonants are so rarely found in language worldwide.
These results are not the first to challenge the traditional premise among linguists that language evolution is largely immune to external factors. Several other researchers have recently argued that geographical context, environmental conditions and genetics could all play a role. But Moisik and Dediu’s work goes a step further by singling out a single feature of human anatomy and quantifying its contribution to a particular type of speech sound.
Susanne Fuchs, senior researcher at the Leibniz Center of General Linguistics in Berlin, who was not involved in the work, says the study’s conclusions are valid. But she cautions that they may present a chicken-and-egg problem: “The palate( 味蕾) shape of an individual matures from early childhood to puberty and , may be affected by frequent productions of clicks,” Fuchs says, “Therefore, over the course of history, it may well be that vocal tract properties and click productions developed in parallel.
1.The underlined word “one culprit” in Paragraph 1 means _____.
A.something that must cause suffering
B.something that may be the cause
C.something that could be concluded
D.something that never happened before.
2.According to the findings by Moisik and Dediu, who can make click sounds easily?
A.People with a small or absent alveolar ridge.
B.People with strong muscles inside the mouth
C.People with a normal alveolar rid.
D.People with a large alveolar ridge.
3.Which of the following statements is true?
A.People with large alveolar ridges cannot learn click language.
B.Having less air trapped in the mouth makes it easier to produce a click.
C.Both Moisik and Dediu believe that language evolution is largely independent of external factors.
D.Language evolution may be subject to geographical context, environmental conditions and genetics.
4.What is Susanne Fuchs most likely to agree with?
A.The conclusions of the study by Moisik and Dediu are unreliable.
B.Vocal tract properties and click productions might evolve at the same time.
C.Frequent productions of clicks decide the palate shape of an individual.
D.The palate shape of an individual decides whether one can produce click sounds.
University Shotokan Karate Club
Learn Karate—self-defense and fitness
The university karate club was founded in 1962. All grades from beginners to advanced are welcome. The classes are suitable for both men and women and several women have obtained their black belt.
TUESDAY AND THURSDAY
6.00—8.00 p.m.
WEAVER HOUSE GYM
FIRST LESSON FREE
Hardly any of us have experienced real violence, but, over the last few years, attacks on innocent people have increased. Each of us has some ability to defend ourselves, and by learning a form of self-defence, we are not only increasing that ability, but also doing something to build our own sense of respect. Karate will show you a lot of simple and effective techniques to protect yourself, giving you increase self-confidence.
Far too many people think martial arts (武术) are about violence. Martial arts training is based on a lot of respect, self-discipline, self-control and non-violence. We learn basic etiquette, courtesy and tolerance. Good manners and consideration for others are expected at all times.
Karate is the practice of blocking and striking techniques for the purpose of self-defence, health and self-development. Karate exercises the entire body. Techniques are practised on both sides of the body, therefore muscle imbalances do not occur and the strength, coordination, flexibility and agility of both sides of the body are improved. Regular training in Karate improves the body’s physical endurance and flexibility. It also helps concentration and produces the mental calm and assurance that come from knowing we can defend ourselves.
Karate has many benefits but they do not come easily or overnight. Training requires ongoing commitment and hard work. Some of you will give up, but a few of you will get your black belt.
1.The passage is mainly intended to_________.
A.tell readers the benefits of Karate
B.attract readers to join the club
C.encourage people to get their black belt
D.correct people’s misunderstand of Karate
2.What can be learned about University Shotokan Karate Club?
A.More men than women have been its members.
B.It tests members to see what level they are at.
C.Members don’t need to pay for the lessons.
D.It offers 4 hours of lessons every week.
3.According to the passage, which of the following statements about Karate is true?
A.It cultivates people’s respect for themselves as well as for others.
B.It involves people’s arm muscles more than body muscles
C.It makes people healthy physically instead of mentally.
D.It focuses as much on self-defence as on attack.
Every April I am troubled by the same concern -- that spring might not occur this year. The landscape looks dull, with hills, sky and forest appearing gray. My spirits ebb, as they did during an April snowfall when I first came to Maine 15 years ago. "Just wait," a neighbor advised. "You’ll wake up one morning and spring will just be here."
And look, on May 3 that year I awoke to a green so amazing as to be almost electric, as if spring were simply a matter of flipping a switch. Hills, sky and forest revealed their purples, blues and green. Leaves had unfolded and daffodils were fighting their way heavenward.
Then there was the old apple tree. It sits on an undeveloped lot in my neighborhood. It belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. The tree’s dark twisted branches stretch out in unpruned（未经修剪的） abandon. Each spring it blossoms so freely that the air becomes filled with the scent of apple.
Until last year, I thought I was the only one aware of this tree. And then one day, in a bit of spring madness, I set out with pruner to remove a few disorderly branches. No sooner had I arrived under the tree than neighbors opened their windows and stepped onto their porches(门廊). These were people I barely knew and seldom spoke to, but it was as if I had come uninvited into their personal gardens.
My mobile-home neighbor was the first to speak. "You’re not cutting it down, are you?" she asked anxiously. Another neighbor frowned as I cut off a branch. "Don’t kill it, now," he warned. Soon half the neighborhood had joined me under the apple tree. It struck me that I had lived there for five years and only now was learning these people’s names, what they did for a living and how they passed the winter. It was as if the old apple tree was gathering us under its branches for the purpose of both acquaintanceship and shared wonder. I couldn’t help recalling Robert Frost’s words:
The trees that have it in their pent-up buds To darken nature and be summer woods One thaw led to another. Just the other day I saw one of my neighbors at the local store. He remarked how this recent winter had been especially long and complained of not having seen or spoken at length to anyone in our neighborhood. And then, he looked at me and said, "We need to prune that apple tree again."
1.By saying that “my spirits ebb” (Para. 1), the author means that _____.
A.he feels relieved B.he feels blue
C.he is surprised D.he is tired
2.The apple tree mentioned in the passage is most likely to _____.
A.be regarded as a delight in the neighborhood
B.have been abandoned by its original owner
C.have been neglected by everyone in the community
D.be appealing only to the author
3.According to Para. 4, why did the neighbors open their windows and step onto their porches?
A.They were surprised that someone unknown was pruning the tree.
B.They wanted to prevent the author from pruning the tree
C.They were concerned about the safety of the tree
D.They wanted to get to know the author
4.It can be inferred that the author’s neighbor mentioned in the last paragraph most cared about _____.
A.when spring would arrive B.how to pass the long winter
C.the neighborhood gathering D.the pruning of the apple tree
Saddleworth Moor in the north of England is a bare place. It seemed almost wired to me, then, that anyone should _____ the building of seven wind turbines( 风力发电机) to produce clean, renewable energy. Surely this was the perfect place to situate them--- basically dull, unattractive to tourists and ----- _____ ---windy. Yet Saddleworth is becoming another battleground in an increasingly confusing _____ over wind farming and the future of the planet.
Typical of this confusion is hearing Professor David Bellamy _____ the fight against wind farms. I had always thought of Professor Bellamy as an environmentalist had made the _____ assumption that he would be a natural supporter of wind power. However, on reflection, Bellamy would be better described as a conservationist, whose main aim is to preserve natural habitats of plants and animals from destruction, rather than a(n) _____ on climate change. He has fought against other renewable energies that _____ wildlife and wildness, and has described the wind turbines as weapons of mass destruction killing birds and bats.
Bellamy, along with other opponents, has argued the wind farms are in fact _____, and are only commercially successfully because they are so heavily funded. This argument has been put forward by several newspaper commentators recently , who have then gone to _____ nuclear power. This doesn’t take into account years of _____ from Greens who claim that nuclear power is both expensive and dangerous. And yet nuclear energy has recently been _____ by a leading green scientist , Professor James Lovelock, who was one of the first to draw attention to the problem of climate change. He argues that renewable energy such as wind simply cannot provide sufficient electricity for our energy needs.
And so it goes on. There are so many _____ claims, each apparently fronted by some outstanding scientists and backed up by a lot of statics. So who’s actually right? What’s the right solution? What _____ me is that we will take so long in deciding that it will be too late. The damage will have been done. Yet what I also _____ is how convenient these conflicting arguments are. We can avoid making any changes to our personal lifestyles by just doing nothing. Global warming isn’t down to me going to Barcelona by air for the weekend or having a dishwasher or driving everywhere; no, it’s because those people in Saddleworth won’t let us build our _____!
1.A.take over B.call for C.look into D.object to
2.A.vice versa B.or rather C.above all D.to date
3.A.debate B.concern C.advantage D.control
4.A.leading B.reporting C.watching D.abandoning
5.A.cautious B.basic C.common D.false
6.A.expert B.campaigner C.commentator D.columnist
7.A.exploited B.threatened C.restored D.attracted
8.A.unaided B.unfriendly C.uneconomic D.unbalanced
9.A.produce B.praise C.eliminate D.research
10.A.intentions B.passions C.opinions D.protest
11.A.advocated B.rejected C.proposed D.overlooked
12.A.expected B.successful C.conflicting D.personal
13.A.relieves B.amazes C.disappoints D.worries
14.A.predict B.recognize C.question D.ski
15.A.wind farms B.power plants C.animal habitats D.nuclear engines
Today, home-ownership has reached extremely high levels. Modern generations tend to believe there is something wrong with them 1. they rent. However, is high home-ownership really as people imagine？2. (stare) at data first, we realize that the most successful, stable, attractive country in the Western world is Switzerland. It has tiny unemployment; wealth; high happiness and mental-health scores. Does it have high home-ownership rates? Absolutely not. In Switzerland, about seven in ten of the population are renters. Yet, with Europe’s 3. (low) home-ownership rate, the nation thrives. Now go to the other end of the misery distribution. Spain has approximately the highest home-ownership rate in Europe （at more than 80%）. But one-quarter of its population are unemployed.
A likely reason is that high levels of home-ownership mess up the labour market. In a sensibly functioning economy it is easy for people to move around to drop into the vibrant job slots 4. (throw) up by technological change. With a high degree of owner-occupation, everything slows. Folk get stuck. Renters can go to new jobs. In that way they do the economy a favours. 5. Friedman said, the rate of unemployment depends on the flexibility of the housing market.
Next we come to economic breakdown. Most analysts accept that at heart it was the housing market-obsessive pursuit of homes, the engendered mortgage（房贷） lending and an unavoidable house-price crash--- 6. sank the Western world. Germany, say, with its more efficient rental market, had a far smoother ride through trouble.
As for the monetary system, in the past few decades, in the hope of getting untaxed capital gains way above their true labour earnings, many people threw their spare cash into buying larger houses or building extra bedrooms. TV programmes about how to make easy money, beautiful rising house prices, and most importantly, our faulty tax system encouraged that. When 7. some point market broke down, everyone suffered. Our countries ought, instead, to design tax systems that encourage people to invest in productive real activities and in innovation. Renting leaves money free for better purposes. That also points to the role of sensible budgeting over a person’s lifetime. Why should we think that when we die it is necessary 8. (pay) off an entire house？
Our children do not deserve it. Let them pay for themselves. We 9. rent-and enjoy our lives with the money saved.
Finally, moderation usually pays off. Our scientific understanding of how economies function is horribly limited. This suggests that the golden rule should be to avoid extremes. A50-50mix of home-ownership and renting, not the 70-30split that is now observed in so many Western nations, 10. (make) sense.
There is a tendency to think of each of the arts as 1. separate area of activity. Many artists, however, would prove 2. there has always been a warm relationship between the a warm relationship areas of human activity. For example, in the late nineteenth century the connections between music and painting were especially close. Artists 3. (invite) to design clothes and settings for operas and ballets, 4. sometimes it was the musicians who were inspired by the work of contemporary painters. Of the musical compositions as responses to the visual arts, perhaps the most famous is Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
Mussorgsky composed the piece in 1874 after the death, at the age of 39, of the artist Victor Hartman. 5. their friendship had not been a particularly long-lasting one, Mussorgsky was shocked by Hartmann’s unexpected death. The following year the critic, Vladimir Stasov, 6. decided to told an exhibition of Hartmann’s work, suggested that Mussorgsky 7. (try) to relieve his grief by writing something in memory of Hartmann.
The exhibition served as Mussorgsky’s inspiration. The ten pieces that make up Pictures at an Exhibition 8. (intend) as symbols rather than representation of the paintings in the exhibition. Between each is a promenade (舞曲中的行进), as the composer walks from one painting to 9. The music is sometimes witty and playful, sometimes almost alarming and frightening. Thought a range of surprising contrasts, Mussorgsky manages 10. (convey) the spirit of the artist and his work.
