Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years，but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going．When the world was still populated by huntergatherers，small，tightly knit（聯(lián)系） groups developed their own patterns of speech independent of each other．Some language experts believe that 10，000 years ago，when the world had just five to ten million people，they spoke perhaps 12，000 languages between them．
Soon afterwards，many of those people started settling down to become farmers，and their languages too became more settled and fewer in number．In recent centuries，trade，industrialization，the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education，especially globalization and better communications in the past few decades，all have caused many languages to disappear，and dominant languages such as English，Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over．
At present，the world has about 6，800 languages．The distribution of these languages is hugely uneven．The general rule is that mild zones have relatively few languages，often spoken by many people，which hot，wet zones have lots，often spoken by small numbers．Europe has only around 200 languages；the Americas about 1，000；Africa 2，400；and Asia and the Pacific perhaps 3，200，of which Papua New Guinea alone accounts for well over 800．The median number（中位數(shù)） of speakers is a mere 6，000，which means that half the world's languages are spoken by fewer people than that．
Already well over 400 of the total of 6，800 languages and close to extinction（消亡），with only a few elderly speakers left．Pick，at random，Busuu in Cameroon（eight remaining speakers），Chiapaneco in Mexico（150），Lipan Apache in the United States（two or three） or Wadjigu in Australia（one，with a question mark）：none of these seems to have much chance of survival．
（1）What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times？BB
A．They developed very fast．
B．They were large in number．
C．They had similar patterns．
D．They were closely connected．
（2）Which of the following best explains "dominant" underlined in Paragraph 2？CC
A．Complex．
B．Advanced．
C．Powerful．
D．Modern．
（3）How many languages are spoken by less than 6，000 people at present？BB
A．About 6，800．
B．About 3，400．
C．About 2，400．
D．About 1，200．
（4）What is the main idea of the text？CC
A．New languages will be created．
B．People's lifestyles are reflected in languages．
C．Human development results in fewer languages．
D．Geography determines language evolution．
【答案】B；C；B；C
【解答】
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發(fā)布：2024/5/27 14:0:0組卷：12引用：1難度：0.7
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（1）What can we know about Burlington School？
A．It is open all year.
B．It is located in London.
C．It provides no accommodation.
D．It offers no social practice classes.
（2）Which school offers the biggest discounts？
A．Burlington School.
B．New School of English.
C．University of Liverpool.
D．Interactive English School.
（3）How is New School of English different from the others？
A．It sets a strict age limit.
B．Its accommodation is optional.
C．Its teachers are qualified and experienced.
D．It offers General and Specialist English courses.發(fā)布：2025/1/6 16:30:6組卷：0引用：1難度：0.6 -
2．Ever since I graduated from high school I've worked in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer.However，making the transformation between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any easier.For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be unacceptable，getting to a factory by 6 o'clock each morning is suffering.My friends never seem to understand why I'm so relieved to be back at school or that my summer vacation has been anything but a vacation.
There are few people as self-confident as a college student who has never been out in the real world.People of my age always seem to overestimate the value of their time and knowledge.In fact，all the classes did not prepare me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant，which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part backward or upside down.
The most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear over night.Issues like being laid off and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers told me that the unit I was working in would shut down within six months and move to Mexico，where people would work for 60 cents an hour.
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My experiences in the factories have inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the real world for good.
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A．It was no holiday for him at all.
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C．It was a relief from his hard work at school.
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（4）How did the working experiences change the author？
A．He became responsible for his work.
B．He learned to be more practical at work.
C．He began to respect blue-collar workers.
D．He came to appreciate his college education.發(fā)布：2025/1/6 16:30:6組卷：0引用：1難度：0.5 -
3．The size of the British Isles often leads people to think that the languages spoken in its countries of England，Scotland，Wales and Northern Ireland are somewhat the same.At first，visitors are often surprised to find that they have difficulty in understanding the accents and dialects of certain regions.Even in England there are many different dialects.
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（1）Most people carry some evidence of their accents and dialects in their lives to.
A．show they are different from others
B．show the places they are from
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B．In Britain some films show us the importance of accents.
C．The English spoken by a person plays an important role in North America.
D．An Englishman's accent is a clue to where he was born and where he grew up.
（3）How do people in England know a person's class？
A．By speaking to him.
B．By guessing.
C．By showing something to him.
D．By judging from his appearance.
（4）What's the film My Fair Lady about？
A．It shows how a boy learned English.
B．It is a love story between two lovers with different accents.
C．It shows how social class and accent are linked in Britain.
D．It shows the relationship between people from different classes.發(fā)布：2025/1/6 16:30:6組卷：0引用：5難度：0.5
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