Question

【題目】閱讀短文, 根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容回答問題。

Let's Save Our Language Heritage

Each year on Feb 21, UNESCO holds an International Mother Language Day（IMLD）. The event is to draw attention to the disappearance of the world's languages：dozens of them are vanishing each year. UNESCO sees this as a tragedy（悲�。�, and with good reason.

What happens when a language dies out? Something huge is lost—not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other. And it is through language that we have culture and tradition. Kill a language and all this is killed too.

Through IMLD, more people are becoming aware of the destruction of linguistic（語言學的）diversity in modern times and trying to stop it. Google's 2012 Endangered Languages Project is a good example. Speakers and protectors of endangered languages upload text, audio and video files to the project site. They want to introduce people to the wonders of the way that people communicate and express themselves around the world.

The Myaamia Project is a similar kind of effort. This is an attempt to revive（重新使用）the language spoken by the Miami and Illinois tribes（部落）of the US. Project members work to encourage people to study and communicate with this language, which formally died out in the 1960s.

These activities, which breathe life into languages on the verge（邊緣）of extinction, might seem old-fashioned to some. But those who work to keep languages alive are not enslaved（束縛）to the past. They are enthusiastic young people who design apps and use social media to champion their activities. As the US-based social event calendar website Upcoming puts it, they“spread the word" to save the word.

So, while the problem of disappearing languages remains a very serious one, there is hope. We all have a special feeling for our mother tongue, although those of us who speak one that is not endangered might not always be aware of it. This is why we should recall（回憶）the wise words of the late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela：“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

【1】When is International Mother Language Day?

【2】What happens when a language dies out?

【3】What is Google's 2012 Endangered Languages Project?

【4】What can we know from Paragraph 5?

【5】Why did the author mention Nelson Mandela's words?

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】Each year on Feb 21. ／(It's) on Feb 21.

【2】Something huge is lost.／Not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other.

【3】It shares online materials about endangered languages.

【4】Young people have creative ways to protect languages.

【5】To point out the importance of one's mother language.

【解析】

本文介紹了每年2月21日，聯(lián)合國教科文組織舉辦一個國際母語日。這次活動旨在幫助人們關(guān)注世界語言的消失，其中許多語言每年都在消失。雖然語言消失的問題仍然是一個非常嚴重的問題，但還是有希望的。我們應(yīng)該記住南非已故總統(tǒng)納爾遜·曼德拉的名言：“如果你用一種他能理解的語言與一個人交談，那就會進入他的頭腦。如果你用他自己的語言和一個人說話，那就進入他的內(nèi)心” 。

【1】根據(jù)“Each year on Feb 21, UNESCO holds an International Mother Language Day（IMLD）.”可知國際母語日是在每年的2月21日。故答案為Each year on Feb 21. ／(It's) on Feb 21.

【2】根據(jù)“Something huge is lost—not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other.”可知當一種語言消失，有些重要的事就丟失了——不僅僅是語言和標識，而是人們感知世界，互相溝通的方式丟失了。故答案為Something huge is lost.／Not just sounds and marks but the way that people make sense of the world and communicate with each other.

【3】根據(jù)“Speakers and protectors of endangered languages upload text, audio and video files to the project site. They want to introduce people to the wonders of the way that people communicate and express themselves around the world.”可知谷歌這個項目，他們會上傳關(guān)于瀕危語言的文字、影音資料到網(wǎng)上，然后展示給全世界看。因此他們這個項目主要是分享關(guān)于瀕危語言的資料。故答案為It shares online materials about endangered languages.

【4】第五段開頭“These activities, which breathe life into languages on the verge（邊緣）of extinction, might seem old-fashioned to some. But those who work to keep languages alive are not enslaved（束縛）to the past.”主要介紹一些活動看起來過時了，但是那些保護語言的人不會被過去束縛。緊接著介紹了一些年輕人用全新的方式去保護語言。因此本文主要介紹年輕人具有創(chuàng)造性、全新的方式保護語言的。故答案為Young people have creative ways to protect languages.

【5】曼德拉的名言“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart.”意思是“如果你用一種他能理解的語言與一個人交談，那就會進入他的頭腦。如果你用他自己的語言和一個人說話，那就進入他的內(nèi)心” �？梢娨粋�人的母語的重要性。故答案為To point out the importance of one's mother language.