Speakers of different languages not only describe the world differently but think about it differently too, according to a new study.
Researchers used a cartoon cat Sylvester to study how language was reflected (反映) in the gestures people made. Dr. Sotaro Kita of the University of Bristol’s Department of Experimental Psychology (心理学), showed the cartoon to a group of native English, Japanese and Turkish speakers and then watched their gestures as they described the actions they had seen. He found speakers of the three different languages used different gestures to describe the same event, which appeared to reflect the way the structure of their languages expressed that event. For example, when describing a scene where the cat swings on a rope, the English speakers used gestures showing an arc trajectory (弧形轨迹) and the Japanese and Turkish speakers tended to use straight gestures showing the motion but not the arc.
Dr. Kita suggests this is because Japanese and Turkish have no proper verb to express the English meaning “to swing”. While English speakers use the arc gesture as their language can readily express the change of location and the arc-shaped trajectory, Japanese and Turkish speakers cannot as easily express the idea of movement with an arc trajectory so they use the straight gesture.
Dr. Kita said, “My research suggests that speakers of different languages cause different spatial (空间的) images of the same event in a way that matches the expressive possibilities of their own languages. In other words, language influences (影响) spatial thinking at the moment of speaking.”
68. Researchers watched the gestures the people made because they wanted to know _____.
A. how language was reflected
B. whether they could express the same idea
C. whether they could describe what they had seen
D. how the structure of language changed
69. After watching the gestures of speakers of the three different languages, Dr. Kita concluded that _____.
A. Japanese and Turkish people couldn’t express the meaning of “swing”
B. English was obviously better than Japanese and Turkish
C.no word in Japanese and Turkish could express some ideas of English
D. every language had its own special way to describe things
70. What is mainly discussed in the text?
A. Differences between languages.
B. Differences between gestures.
C. How people use different gestures to express the same event.
D. That language influences the way people think.
Think back to this time last year. What was on your mind?
Most likely, you were thinking about finals or the holidays, although in this city I’ve noticed that thinking about the holiday is a fancy way of saying how much stuff will I get.
Now reflect on your thoughts for this holiday season. Most people are still thinking about the holidays, but I say that with a grain of salt. Everybody with a functioning brain and the ability to communicate knows that this holioday season comes with a pretty large price tag: the debt of all the hardships, both domestic and foreign, that we’ve faced over the past 12months.
Let’s face it: some of us will get everything we want over the holidays. But there are others whose parents have lost their jobs or who have lost jobs themselves because of the current economic situation. As much as we try to ignore it, there is still economic unrest in the blue and gold suburb.
In this situation, we have three options. One: We ignore the situation, like we seem to do for every bad thing that happens around us, because by God, it’s the American Way! Two: We recognize that our economy is shot, feel bad about it and spend our time wishing for the good old days. Three: We recognize that our economy is shot, but instead of moping, reflect on every good thing that we have going for us. Now, which option sounds best to you?
I spent a week this summer working in and around New York City with the city’s homeless population. Or so I thought. Although a lot of the people I served were in fact homeless, a significant number of them had a job or a home or both. The truth of the importance of this situation is that they and thousands of others across the country can’t afford even the most basic things of life, even while working two jobs. Yet no one that I met complained about their hardships. Instead, they took whatever I happened to give them(which was, more often than enough, not enough) and were genuinely grateful for what they had.
Wrap your heads around that statement for a second. These people worked their butts off to stay alive with minimal results, yet were overjoyed by a flimsy(脆弱的) paper plate with donated green beans on it. Although I am ashamed to admit it( both as a girthy figure and an affluent citizen), I have taken for granted most of my meals, let alone green beans, and I know for a fact that I am not alone.
64. According to the passage when people think about holidays they care much for ____.
A. where to spend their holidays B. how to spend their holidays
C. what they can get for their holidays D. who they should go to visit
65. When the author wrote the article, the economic situation in his country ____.
A. began to go bad. B. began to improve C. was still serious D. was favorable for middle class.
66. The author wrote the article mainly to advise people____.
A.to be thankful in time of hardship. B. to spend their holidays in a wise way
C. to think little about their holidays D. to help the country to sail through the crisis
67. It can be inferred from the passage that the writer is most probably ______.
A. a homeless child B. an old professor C. a famous scientist D. a young student
---- I did well in the English exam last week.
---- I did _____ . I got a full mark.
|
A．no better |
B．no worse |
C．even worse |
D．not better |
---Why didn’t you go to yesterday’s meeting?
---I would have but I ______ too busy working on the important experiment.
|
A．had been |
B．was |
C．were |
D．am |
短文改错(共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分)
假定英语课上英语老师要求同桌之间互相修改作文，请你修改你同桌的以下作文。
文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在该词下面写出该加的词。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1、每处错误及修改均仅限一词。
2、只允许修改10处，多者(从11处起)不计分。
Dear Jin Jing，
Your problem is common one among middle school students．Maybe the following advices can help you．First in all，believe in yourself．Your greatest problem is that you lack self-confidence．The first thing you must do is to smile at your classmate．One smile speaks loud about your wish to make friends than any word．Your smile will show that you are friendly to him．Next，trying talking with a student who is as shy as you or who share the same interest as you．You can discuss your studies with a classmate，and you can also talk about your hobbies as well．Unless anyone is in trouble，you should be ready to help him or her．Once you have confidence，you can make as many friends as possibly．
Winter in the north is usually very cold and it is important to avoid colder-related injuries such as frostbite(冻伤) and hypothermia(体温降低)．Frostbite is damage that happens when skin is exposed to extreme cold for too long．It mainly happens on the hands，feet，nose，and ears and some will bring permanent damage．Hypothermia is a serious medical condition caused by serious cold．It happens when the body cannot produce as much heat as it loses．If not treated，it can be deadly．
The best way to avoid cold-related injuries is to be prepared for the outdoors．Here is a simple way to remember four basic steps to staying warm．Think of COLD．
The C stands for cover．Wear a hat and scarf to keep heat from escaping through the head，neck，and ears．And wear mittens instead of gloves．Mittens are a type of glove that does not have separate parts for each finger．Gloves may not keep hands as warm because they separate the fingers．
The O stands for overexertion(过分用力)．Avoid activities that will make you sweaty．Wet clothes and cold weather are a bad mix．
L is for layers．Wearing loose，lightweight clothes，one layer on top of another, is better than single heavy layer clothing．Also，make sure outerwear is made of water resistant and tightly knit material．
The last letter D stands for dry．In other words，stay as dry as possible．Pay attention to the places where snow can enter, like the tops of boots．the necks of coats and the wrist areas of mittens．
And there are a couple of other things to keep in mind，one for children and the other for adults．Eating snow might be fun but it lowers the body's temperature．And drinking alcohol might make a person feel warm，but what it really does is weaken the body's ability to hold heat．
67．Both frostbite and hypothermia ．
A．are injuries caused by extreme cold
B．may happen on the hands，feet，nose and ears
C．may cause uncontrollable shaking and slow breathing
D．may be deadly injuries
68．Mittens can keep your hands warmer than gloves because ．
A．they are thicker B．they are made of better materials
C．they don't separate your fingers D．they separate your fingers
69． can help you avoid cold-related injuries．
A．Trying your best to exercise until you get sweat
B．Wearing layers of loose，lightweight clothes
C．Drinking alcohol to make you feel warm
D．Wearing a single heavy layer of clothing
70．Overexertion should be avoided because ．
A．it may exhaust you B．it may make you hungry
C．it may make you sweat D．it may lower your body temperature
