Question

Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

About 100 years ago, one of the founders of modern linguistics, Ferdinand de Saussure, wrote that the relationship 1. the sounds we make and the concepts they express are arbitrary(任意的，随意的). Many have long agreed. But now the inherent(内在的) randomness of human language 2.(challenge) by a large new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 3. analyzed 100 basic words in 3,700 languages around the world. In short: Certain words tend to contain or omit certain sounds in a significant number of these languages, and the consistency is “stronger than we’d expect by chance.” The team of physicists, linguists, and computer scientists from the US, Argentina and Europe took a “big data approach” to sixty two percent of the world’s languages. And one of  4. tells the Washington Post.

Among their many findings is 5. the word for nose contains the sound “n” in more than 1,400 languages, 6. (range) from “nev” in Icelandic and “hana” in Japanese to “kon” in Sar and “naris” in Spanish. Ditto(同上，同前) the sound “s” in sand. The researchers don’t yet know why, although they’ve ruled out the idea of there 7.(be) one original language. It’s not the first study 8.(suggest) a biological basis for the sounds we appoint to objects ---- something 9.(call) the “bouba/kiki” effect dates back to 1929, suggesting that most humans think the fake word “bouba” sounds like a rounded shape while the fake word “kiki” sounds spiky(带尖刺的). A separate researcher tells the Telegraph that some words may date back from 10. babies can first say, such as “mama”, but says the study “looked at too few words to make any firm conclusions.”

Answer

1.between

2.is being challenged

3.which

4.them

5.that

6.ranging

7.being

8.to suggest

9.called

10.what

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章介绍了对人类语言的新研究发现。

1.考查介词。句意：大约100年前，现代语言学的奠基人之一费迪南德·德·索绪尔(Ferdinand de Saussure)写道，我们发出的声音和它们表达的概念之间的关系是任意的。此处指两者之间，用介词between“两者之间”，故填between。

2.考查现在进行时态的被动语态。句意：但现在，人类语言固有的随机性正受到《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表的一项大型新研究的挑战，这项研究分析了全球3700种语言中的100个基本词汇。此处句子主语the inherent randomness of human language和challenge之间是一种被动关系，是单数第三人称形式，再根据句中的now，可知句子用一般现在进行时态的被动语态，故填is being challenged。

3.考查非限制性定语从句。句意：但现在，人类语言固有的随机性正受到《美国国家科学院院刊》上发表的一项大型新研究的挑战，这项研究分析了全球3700种语言中的100个基本词汇。此处study是先行词，指物，分析句子结构，先行词在后面的定语从句中作主语，且that不能引导非限制性定语从句，故填which。

4.考查人称代词宾格。句意：其中一人告诉《华盛顿邮报》。此处one of ____4____是句子主语，而介词of后面应该用代词宾格指代上句提到的physicists, linguists, and computer scientists，故填them。

5.考查全部倒装和主语从句。句意：他们发现，从冰岛语的“nev”和日语的“hana”，到西班牙语的“kon”和“naris”的1400多种语言中，“nose”这个词含有“n”的发音。此处是全部倒装，而句子的主语是一个主语从句，分析句子结构，这个主语从句不缺少成分，所以引导词只起引导作用，故填that。

6.考查现在分词作伴随状语。句意：他们发现，从冰岛语的“nev”和日语的“hana”，到西班牙语的“kon”和“naris”的1400多种语言中，“nose”这个词含有“n”的发音。此处languages和range之间是主动关系，是现在分词作伴随状语，故填ranging。

7.考查there be句型的非谓语形式。句意：尽管他们已经排除了存在一种原始语言的想法，研究人员还不知道为什么。介词of后面用动名词作宾语，是there be的动名词形式there being，故填being。

8.考查动词不定式作后置定语。句意：这并不是第一个提出我们赋予物体声音的生物学基础的研究。固定搭配：the +序数词 … to do sth.“做某事的第一个……”。此处是动词不定式作后置定语，起修饰限制作用。故填to suggest。

9.考查过去分词作后置定语。句意：一种被称为“bouba/kiki”效应的现象可以追溯到1929年，这表明大多数人认为“bouba”这个假单词听起来像一个圆形，而“kiki”这个假单词听起来像一个尖尖的。此处something和call之间是一种被动关系，是过去分词作后置定语，故填called。

10.考查宾语从句。句意：另一名研究人员告诉《每日电讯报》，有些词可能可以追溯到婴儿第一次会说“妈妈”之类的话，但他说，这项研究“只看了很少的几个词，无法得出任何确切的结论”。此处介词from后面是一个宾语从句，从句缺少引导词和宾语，what能其双重作用。故填what。