Endangered languages are languages that wouldn’t exist any longer, much like endangered species of plants or animals. Languages are considered to be endangered when parents are no longer teaching the language to their children and are not using it actively in everyday life. A language is considered to nearly disappear when it is spoken by only a few elderly native speakers.
The world faces enormous challenges in order to protect different kinds of languages. Of the more than 6,912 languages, half may be in danger of disappearing in the next several decades.
It is caused by many reasons: small numbers of speakers, the regular use of other languages, attitudes towards their languages, moving of the younger population, government policies, and languages used in education and so on. A language may lack important things such as a body of literature, and people who read and write it. A language may also lack prestige (声望) and support of its speakers.
The survival of a language is also threatened when speakers move to other areas where different languages are spoken, or when government policies improve the use of a specific language in school, official business and the media. These situations encourage people to learn the wider-known language and may cause them, especially the young, to stop using their mother tongue. Often those speaking lesser-known languages will choose to learn a more prestigious language with the hope of greater economic opportunities. Most of the world’s parents are teaching their children English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Russian or some other main languages instead of their own languages for social and economic reasons.
1.What’s the main idea of this passage?
A．Languages in the world.
B．Reasons why languages become endangered.
C．What an endangered language is.
D．Languages spoken by few speakers.
2.About ________languages will probably disappear in this century according to the passage.
A．more than 6,912 B．more than 3,456 C．6,912 D．less than 3,456
3.Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
①=Paragraph1 ②=Paragraph2 ③=Paragraph3 ④=Paragraph4
4.We can infer that the best way to maintain an endangered language is to _________.
A．forbid the speakers to move about
B．pass laws to protect the language
C．raise the salaries of the people who speak the language
D．teach the language to young children and encourage people to speak it often
5.All of the following about languages are true EXCEPT __________.
A．many languages will be probably endangered in this century
B．government policies have a big effect on languages
C．the endangered language is a language that is spoken by a few people
D．languages are related to their speakers’ social and economic position
Knowing the best way to study will help you to be a better student. By using your time properly, you can do your homework more quickly. Learning to study is not difficult.
The first thing to remember is that you must be willing to learn. It doesn’t mean that you must always like the subject. It does mean, however, that you must be willing to do whatever is necessary to learn. Try to understand why it is important and how it will help you now and later to do and learn other things. Knowing mathematics facts will be useful in your whole life. Knowing how to spell makes any kind of writing easier. Sometimes the subject that you think is going to be uninteresting will be exciting when you begin to work at it and understand it more clearly. Learning things can be fun if you are willing to work with them.
Here’s some advice for you: have a certain time each day and a quiet place with good lighting for study, so that you can concentrate on your study without interruptions; have everything ready before you sit down to study, a dictionary, paper, a pen and books; be sure you understand what you should learn before you start; read carefully and pay special attention to the most important things; when memorizing, first find out the main parts and then recite the whole thing; check your homework after you finish it; never forget the importance of review and preview.
Don’t try to spend a lot of time researching learning methods. There are many students who know many good learning methods but don’t study well. They forget that the most useful learning method is to study hard.
1.The main purpose of the article is______.
A. to prove that learning is not difficult
B. to make the readers be interested in study
C. to tell the importance of self teaching
D. to tell the students how to study well
2.The first thing to remember in studying is that ______.
A. you must like the subject
B. you must follow the teacher
C. you must enjoy learning
D. you must study hard
3.The following advice is given in the article EXCEPT______.
A. To put a pen, paper and books beside you before study.
B. To study at any possible time and place.
C. To review and preview
D. To pay attention to the most important things.
4.Among the following statements, ______is true.
A. The more learning methods we have, the better we will study.
B. Finding the best learning method is the most important in learning.
C. Knowing good methods, you can’t be good at study without working hard.
D. Once we have mastered a good learning method, we can improve our study greatly.
5.From the passage, we can conclude that ______.
A. No pains, no gains B. Better late than never
C. Study comes first D. Good methods, good results.
My 8-year-old son, Kevin, has made friends with some boys in the neighborhood. He has been 36 with them after school. My wife，Qugen, and I are __37__ he has other kids to be with and we have __38__ and encouraged him to play with his friends. We also want Kevin to learn __39__，so we have asked him to tell us __40__ he's going and to come home at a specified time.
The __41__ started when Kevin didn't come home on time. On one occasion，I asked Kevin to be back at 6 pm. By 6：30，I needed to go __42__ him. I found him at a friend's house，and he looked __43__ that he couldn't continue playing. After we came home，I sat Kevin down for a talk about the __44__ of keeping his word. I told him I was not worried about him arriving a few __45__ late，but after half an hour，I’m going to be 46 . He told me he understood.
The next day，I came home from work at about 6:30 p.m. and Qugen asked me to go and get Kevin __47__ she said he should be back home at 6. I walked to his friend's house and a look of __48__ appeared on Kevin's face when he came to the door.
At __49__，Qugen and I spoke to Kevin about why he didn't come home on time again. He said he just wanted to _ 50__ playing. This was __51__，so Qugen and I decided to ground(罚不准出门)him for a week. This __52_ no playing with his friends.
For the next week，whenever his friends came to ask for Kevin，we let him _53__ to them that he was grounded. We felt this would help him be responsible for his __54__.
As a __55__，I believe one of the most important things we can teach our kids is self-responsibility and that actions have consequences.
1.A. studying B．playing C．chatting D．quarreling
2.A. glad B．lucky C．worried D．sure
3.A. made B．allowed C．trained D．forced
4.A. amusements B．communication C．honesty D．responsibility
5.A. when B．why C．where D．whenever
6.A. changes B．conflicts C．worries D．problems
7.A. looking for B．picking up C．waiting for D．calling up
8.A. angry B．nervous C．disappointed D．ashamed
9.A. quality B．importance C．stories D．ways
10.A. hours B．minutes C．days D．times
11.A. satisfied B．shocked C．surprised D．concerned
12.A. if B．unless C．because D．so
13.A. guilt B．disappointment C．excitement D．hatred
14.A. home B．school C．work D．office
15.A. finish B．keep C．learn D．stop
16.A. impossible B．impolite C．unacceptable D．unbelievable
17.A. meant B．suggested C．showed D．implied
18.A. reply B．apologize C．tell D．explain
19.A. decisions B．words C．actions D．friends
20.A. teacher B．parent C．writer D．professor
To turn off my cell phone before going to bed seems to be a rule .
A．to never break B．never to have broken
C．never to be broken D．never to be breaking
—Did you have any trouble in getting here ?
— No . I would have telephoned you .
A. However B. Otherwise C. Therefore D. Anyway
There were so many cars held up by the heavy rain on the road that we had no but to wait.
A. alternative B. difference C. relation D. opposition
