The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a relatively short life span as well as a very high death rate. Only a few, including Egyptian, Chinese, Greek, Latin, have lasted more than 2,000 years.
What is new, however, is the speed at which they are dying out. Europe’s colonial conquests caused a sharp decline in linguistic diversity, eliminating at least 15 percent of all languages spoken at the time. Over the last 300 years, Europe has lost a dozen, and Australia has only 20 left of the 250 spoken at the end of the 18th century.
The rise of nation-states has also been decisive in selecting and consolidating national languages and sidelining others. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media and the civil service, national governments have deliberately tried to eliminate minority languages.
This process of linguistic standardization has been boosted by industrialization and scientific progress, which have imposed new methods of communication that are swift, straightforward and practical. Language diversity came to be seen as an obstacle to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism became an ideal.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have intensified the threat to “small” languages. A language not on the Internet is a language that “no longer exists” in the modern world. It is out of the game.
The serious effects of the death of languages are evident. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural capacity for linguistic inventiveness. We would never be able to figure out the origins of human language or resolve the mystery of “the first language”. As each language dies, a chapter of human history closes.
Multilingualism is the most accurate reflection of multiculturalism. The destruction of the first will inevitably lead to the loss of the second. Imposing a language without any links to a people’s culture and way of life stifles the expression of their collective genius. A language is not only used for the main instrument of human communication. It also expresses the world vision of those who speak it, their ways of using knowledge. To safeguard languages is an urgent matter.
1.Which of the following does not contribute to the death of languages?
A. Colonial conquests of Europe
B. The boom of human population
C. Advances in science and industrialization
D. The rise of nation-states
2.The underlined word “ stifles” in the last paragraph probably means “_____”.
A. boosts B. fuels C. imposes D. kills
3.The serious effects of the death of languages include all except that_______.
A. People would fail to understand how languages originated
B. Language diversity would become an obstacle to globalization
C. Monolingualism would lead to the loss of multiculturalism
D. Human brains would become less creative linguistically
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A. To explain the reasons why languages are dying out.
B. To warn people of the negative aspects of globalization.
C. To call people’s attention to the urgency of language preservation.
D. To argue how important it is for people to speak more languages.
It was a secret Eli kept until he was 8 years old.
“He would scream, like we were hurting him when we tried to put a dress on him.” recalled Grace, his mother. That was when Eli was an 18-month-old baby girl already rejecting anything female.
Now, Eli’s mother and Eli are sharing their story with CBS New York. Eli still remembers being a baby, and rejecting putting on a dress. “Oh, I remember that,” he said. “It was like torture.” Now Eli is 11 years old. He is, by all accounts, a happy, active boy who never doubted he was born the wrong sex. Eli said to CBS New York. It was hard to keep that secret for 8 years though, “It was kind of hard because I hadn’t really told anyone ever,” he said.
“He said, ‘I have a secret, and the secret is I don’t want to be a girl. I think I’m a boy，’”Grace recalled. “…I thought, ‘I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we’re going to figure it out.”’
CBS New York reports that it was a less clear path for Ryan, now a 21-year-old man. He, too, was born female, but never felt like one.
He didn’t understand his feelings at the time. Then he learned about what it meant to be transgender on the Internet, and it began to make sense. “It was a relief to know what exactly I was or am,” he said.
Ryan’s mother said at first it was hard to accept. “It’s a scary thing to think about,” she said. But she came around. “I was glad my son is able to become the person he needed to be,” she said.
Experts say the kind of family support both Ryan and Eli are getting is of great significance. Without it, many transgender kids suffer from anxiety, depression and high rates of suicide.
“We see a lot of kids with a lot of mental health concerns, and we also see that those mental health concerns really reduced when the family is on board,” said Jean Malpas of Ackerman Institute for the Family, a non-profit research organization to CBS New York.
Grace said for her it went from a situation that felt really confusing and difficult to one that she now celebrates. “We feel so lucky to have him.” she said.
1.According to the passage, Eli would scream because_________.
A. Eli rejected care and love from parents
B. Eli didn’t want to be dresses as a girl
C. Eli didn’t want to wear anything at all
D. Eli’s parents were torturing their baby
2.Which word can best describe Ryan’s feelings before he turned to the Internet?
A. Confused. B. Angry. C. Relieved. D. Confident.
3.This passage is probably taken from________.
A. a news report
B. a scientific journal
C. a survey report
D. an academic essay
4.What can we learn from this passage?
A. Many people feel difficult to accept who themselves really are.
B . Knowledge about transgender should be made known to more people.
C. Support from family is important to special groups like the transgender.
D. Many non-profit organizations are trying to help people like Eli and Ryan.
The Children’s Book-Show Competition is a chance for young readers to be writers.
Reading, it seems, is coming back in fashion, if a survey by the famous National Literacy Trust (the NLT) is true. It shows that the percentage of children who admit enjoying reading has grown for the first time in the past 8 years.
So it’s a good time to launch a competition that includes a shed-load of new books for schools as prizes. The Children’s Book-show Competition, backed by The Independent, is taking to the roads again from the start of next term, with a nation-wide tour of 15 big cities, featuring a line-up of a dozen children’s writers and illustrators(插图画家)aiming to persuade pupils to follow their footsteps.
The competition, launched by the children’s writer and illustrator Jessica Souhami, has two categories: the under-nine’s and nine to 13-year-olds.
Children are asked to choose their favorite fairy or folk tale and set it in an extraordinary place.
Then they are to retell it with the aid of drawings and writings-whether it is set at sea, on a distant planet, in the future or in the past. The closing date for the competition is 30th November.
“Tell your tale in pictures and in words, ”say the organizers of the competition. “It can be in a picture book or comic-book format.”
The winner of each competition will receive a signed copy of a book by each of the 12 authors involved in this year’s tour, plus £150 worth of books for their school. The runners-up will receive a signed copy of Souhami’s new book.
1.What can we know about the Book-show Competition? _____
A. It will be held by the famous NLT.
B. It will be held in different cities.
C. It has never been organized before.
D. Children of all ages will join in it.
2.The underlined word “backed” in Paragraph 3 means_____.
A. started B. promoted
C. supported D. reported
3.What will be offered as a prize to schools? _________
A. Pictures and comic books
B. Books worth £150 in all.
C. Books signed by 12 authors.
D. Jessica Souhami’s new books.
4.The author’s purpose of writing this passage is to ______.
A. encourage young readers to become writers.
B. persuade all children to join in the competition
C. promote children’s books by famous writers.
D. introduce the Children’s Book-Show Competition
假如你是红星中学高一(1)班学生李华。你的美国笔友Mike对中国文化很感兴趣。他写信向你询问有关中国“重阳节”的情况。请你根据以下信息给他写一封回信进行简单介绍。
节日名称：重阳节(Double Ninth Festival)
节日类型：传统节日
时 间：每年农历九月初九
主要活动：出游赏秋，登高健身，拜访父母，吃花糕等
节日意义：敬老，爱老
参考词汇：阴历lunar year/lunar calendar，花糕：flower cakes
注意：1. 信的开头已为你写好；
2. 词数不少于60。
Dear Mike,
How are you! In your last letter, you asked me about Double Ninth Festival.______
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
At the U.S. Open championships in Flushing Meadows, New York last week, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) held an unusual youth press conference (新闻发布会). I say "unusual" because the main idea wasn't to promote the sport for young children. Yes, there was a youth tennis exhibition in which a group of fresh-faced kids from the area showed off their well developed skills. They used junior racquets and larger, low-pressure balls on a half-size tennis court－a way the organization supports as a means to help children have early success and stick with the game.
But the event's real purpose was to help parents realize the importance of introducing kids to all kinds of athletic programs rather than focusing specially on one. This may sound like something easy to do, but it's not. In today's achievement-oriented (成功向导 ) environment, children are being pushed to specialize in a single sport－whether it's tennis, hockey, soccer, or gymnastics － at ever-younger ages. Tom Farrey, executive director of the nonprofit Aspen Institute Sports & Society Program, says year-round sports programs are now offered down to age 5, too early an age for a child to limit himself or herself to a single activity. While parents naturally want the best for their child, they are being pressured by coaches to let him or her stick with one thing.
The result: More kids under age 12 are suffering injuries or, worse, burnout. According to the Aspen Institute's report, Project Play, fewer kids today are staying involved with sports than five years ago, partly because of forced specialization. Today's children are already on track to live shorter, less healthy lives than their parents because of obesity and related diseases, and this trend is only worsening matters.
Multi-sport participation, however, leads to better performance (because kids get a chance to develop different sets of skills ) and greater enjoyment of the game, says Farrey. The headlining athletes at the event repeated the idea that having kids do more than one sport is a plus (good for them).
1.According to Tom Farrey, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Having kids do more than one sport is an advantage to their future career.
B. A child should limit himself to a single activity under the age of 5.
C. Parents are being pressured to let their kids stick with one sport.
D. Multi-sport participation leads to most kids' worse performance.
2.The underlined word "this" in paragraph 2 refers to ________.
A. introducing kids to many different sports instead of only one
B. inviting kids to only one sport instead of trying different ones
C. taking kids to only several different sports instead of too many
D. leading kids to any sport they like instead of trying many kinds
3. Fewer kids are staying involved with sports now than five years ago partly because they _______.
A. become too fat to take part in sports
B. have too much school work to complete
C. get too many injuries when they do sports
D. are pushed into specialized sport too hard
4.What's the best title for the passage?
A. The Importance of Doing Sports
B. The Necessity of Physical Education
C. Stop Specializing in Sports So Early
D. Develop Children's Athletic Abilities
Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life.
Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced1 by their environment. They say a baby will smile if his mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care by smiling to please his mother or other caregivers. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings.
A study shows how mothers can influence social development and language skills in their children.
Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers tried to measure the sensitivity2 of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children's activities and did not get involved unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression.
The children of depressed3 women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.
1. influence: to affect the way people behave or think
2. sensitivity: the ability to understand other people's feelings
3. depressed: very sad and without hope
These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.
1.When do babies begin learning according to doctors in the United States? (不多于5个单词)
2.Why do babies smile to please their mothers or other caregivers? (不多于6个单词)
3.In what tests did the children of depressed women do poorly? (不多于 7个单词)
4.What kind of mothers can help children have a better development? (不多于 2个单词)
