The death of languages is not a new phenomenon. Languages usually have a short life span(寿命) 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 ruling caused a sharp decrease in language kinds, reducing 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 national languages. By making great efforts to establish an official language in education, the media, national governments have tried to reduce minority languages.
This process of language standardization(标准化) has been improved by industrialization and scientific progress, which have created new methods of communication that are fast, straightforward and practical. Language kinds came to be seen as an difficulty to trade and the spread of knowledge. Monolingualism(单种语言) became an perfect choice.
More recently, the internationalization of financial markets, the spread of information by electronic media and other aspects of globalization have led to the danger 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 clear. First of all, it is possible that if we all ended up speaking the same language, our brains would lose some of their natural functions for language 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(多语种) is the most right solution. The destruction of the first will lead to the loss of the second. Creating a language without any links to a people’s culture and way of life stifles the expression of their language gift. A language is not only used as 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 rise of nation-states
C. Advances in science and industrialization
D. The increase of human population
2.The underlined word “ stifles” in the last paragraph probably means “_____”.
A. kills B. cheer C. creates D. improve
3.The serious effects of the death of languages include all except that_______.
A. People would fail to understand how languages started
B. Monolingualism would lead to the loss of multiculturalism
C. Language kinds would become an difficulty to globalization
D. Human brains would become less creative in languages
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing this passage?
A. To call people’s attention to the importance of language preservation.
B. To warn people of the negative result of globalization.
C. To explain the reasons why languages are dying out.
D. To argue how important it is for people to speak more languages.
Here is a true story about a famous man who worked in the White House and a criminal. They once faced the same thing: their mother gave them apples when they were young.
The criminal said: one day, my mother brought some apples and asked my brother and me: “Which do you want?” “The reddest and biggest one,” my little brother said. My mother stared at him and said to him angrily: “You should learn to give the good things to others; you shouldn’t always think of yourself.” Seeing this, I suddenly changed my idea and then said to my mother, “Mum, please give me the smaller one and give the bigger one to my little brother.” Hearing my words, my mother was very happy. She kissed me on my face and gave the reddest and biggest apple to me as a prize. From them on, I learned to tell lies, fight, steal and rob. In order to get what I wanted, I played hard. As a result, I was sent into prison.
The famous man from the white house said, One day, my mother brought some apples. She said to my brother and me: “You all want the reddest and biggest one, right? Well, let’s have a competition. Now I divided the grassland in front of the gate into two and I will give one to each of you and you must shear(修剪) it well. And I will give the reddest and biggest apple to him who does it the most quickly and best.”
After the competition, I won and I got the biggest apple. In our family, as long as you want to get the best things, you must take part in competition. I think it is fair. No matter what you want, you must pay lots of efforts.
1.The criminal got the reddest and biggest apple because______.
A. he knew how to make his mother happy from her answer
B. he told the truth that he wanted a smaller one
C. elder brother should of course have the bigger one
D. his mother loved him more than she loved the younger brother
2.We can conclude from the passage that _______.
A. it’s wrong to ask children to choose apples when they are not old enough.
B. it’s wrong to ask children not to always think of themselves.
C. it’s important to make children aware that no matter what they want, they must pay work
D. it’s always necessary to have a competition when we give children apple.
3.The writer tells the story by _______.
A. organizing it in the order of time.
B. describing it in the order of space
C. providing some scientific information
D. making a comparison between two men
4.It is implied in the passage that _______.
A. a mother’s educational method has a great influence on a child’s growing.
B. in order to get what we want, we should play hard.
C. we should always try to win competitions which can bring us a lot.
D. giving children apples will lead them to become criminals.
My challenge for you is this: to read a book for 15 minutes every single day for a month.
Let me explain a bit, by telling you where the challenge came from. I have many things in common with my dad, like music taste and sense of humor, but sadly reading isn’t one of them. I can happily spend a whole day with a book, but my dad can’t read a book for longer than about 5 minutes. He reads emails, websites and papers for work, but not books. He’s busy so I think sitting down to read for just 15 minutes a day is a good way to relax and to introduce him to reading.
My dad is by no means the only person who avoids books. I know lots of people would rather relax on their computers or in front of the TV. Everyone is different and has their own interests, but I think there’re lots of benefits to reading, which screen-based activities don’t have.
Firstly, it’s better for your eyes. Looking at screens can be very stressful for you eye muscles, and clearly you should avoid looking at screens for an hour before bed, to get a good night’s sleep.
One thing I personally love reading, is being transported to another world—I would often forget the time or things around me! Reading is a great way to switch off before you go to bed, because you think more about the world of the book, rather than the real world, so you can truly relax. I know you can be transported to a different world in a film or a TV show, but I think books do it better.
I also enjoy hearing what people are doing and finding out what they think. Reading gives me the chance to get to know hundreds of new people! It also teaches you to see things from other people’s point of view, and understand other people’s decisions or opinions. With a book, you can hear everything a character is thinking or feeling—you really can be inside someone else’s head!
So give it a go! Take 15 minutes when you’re waking up, going to bed, eating too much, or having a coffee. If you read a lot, why not try 15 minutes of an English book, or pass the challenge on to someone else? Good luck, and happy reading!
1.The author gives the example of his father in the text to show ___________.
A. his father is very busy
B. reading is very important to us
C. his father likes reading
D. many people have no habit of reading
2.The author writes the text mainly basing on ___________.
A. his personal experience
B. some scientific experiments
C. his father’s personal advice
D. knowledge from books
3.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
A. Tips for Reading English Books
B. 15-Minute Reading Challenge
C. Having a Coffee While You Read
D. Ways to Improve Reading Skills
书面表达
我校英语社拟邀请一位国际知名人士到校举办讲座，现就受邀嘉宾向全校学生广泛征求意见，假设你是李华，请在三位备选嘉宾（one of the world’s billionaires, an astronaut, a volunteer of WWF）中推荐一位并给英语社社长写一封信表达你的想法，内容应包括：
1、推荐该嘉宾的理由（至少两条）；
2、你期待的讲座内容（至少两条）。
注意：
1. 词数不少于100 词；
2. 无须写出推荐嘉宾姓名；
3. 可适当增加细节，使行文连贯；
4. 开头语已为你写好。
Dear Sir,
It is such exciting news that the English club is to invite a world renowned figure to give us a lecture.
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短文改错
文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(
)，并在其下面写出该加的词。删除：把多余的词用(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
When I was young, I didn’t know that friendship was. When I stayed with my friends, a warm feeling came out the bottom of my heart. Now I have grown up and make many friends. And I have experienced the true feeling of friendship. When I am happy, they are also happy and share the happy with me. When I make progress, they will get more exciting than me. Beside, when I am in a difficult situation, they will offer help to me. But friendship is never an one-way ticket. If we want to get it, we must treat others good at first. We should always be ready to help the others, especially when you are in trouble.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。
Last Friday, a chance encounter(遭遇) changed me and my family’s life greatly.
After school, I was about to enter my apartment building 1._________a little dirty dog 2._________ (lie) beside the dustbin, caught my eye. He looked3._________ (extreme) weak. Immediately the homeless dog filled me with sympathy. So I bent down and held him in my arms. I rushed him upstairs and right away 4._________ (offer) him some food. Then I gave him a bath. After the bath he looked5._________ (energy) and refreshed. 6._________ a lovely dog!
When my parents got home, I asked7._________ I could keep the dog. 8._________ my surprise, they agreed. From that day, he has become a member of our family. Everyone has enjoyed his company. My parents walk him often. He and I play joyfully.
9._________ (look) at the lovely, happy dog today, I realize that I did a right thing. I brought him to a warm, loving home, 10._________ he brought us great happiness and laughter.
