the disappearance of languages 语言的消失 阅读

thedisappearanceoflanguages语言的消失阅读FourThingsThatHappenWhenaLanguageDiesThisWorldMotherLanguageDay,readaboutwhymanysayweshouldbefightingtopreservelinguisticdiversityLanguagesaroundtheworldaredying,anddyingfast.Todayis InternationalMotherLanguageDay,startedbyUNESCOtopromotetheworld'slinguisticdiversity.Thegrimmestpredictionshave90percentoftheworld'slanguagesdyingoutbytheendofthiscentury.Althoughthismightnotseemimportantintheday-to-daylifeofanEnglishspeakerwithnopersonaltiestothecultureinwhichthey’respoken,languagelossmatters.Here’swhatwealllose:1.Welose“Theexpressionofauniquevisionofwhatitmeanstobehuman”Theeffectsofthatlanguagelosscouldbe“culturallydevastating,”Basuwrote.“Eachlanguageisakeythatcanunlocklocalknowledgeaboutmedicinalsecrets,ecologicalwisdom,weatherandclimatepatterns,spiritualattitudesandartisticandmythologicalhistories.”Languageshavenaturallyrisenandfalleninprominencethroughouthistory,shewrote.WhatmakesthisdifferentinIndiaaswellasthroughouttheworldistherateatwhichit’shappeningandthenumberoflanguagesdisappearing.2. Welosememoryoftheplanet’smanyhistoriesandcultures.Theofficial languageofGreenland, wrote KateYoderfor Grist,isfascinatingandunique.It’s“madeupofextremelylongwordsthatcanbecustomizedtoanyoccasion,”shewrites.AndthereareasmanyofthosewordsastherearesentencesinEnglish,onelinguistwhospecializesinGreenlandictoldher.Someofthose,likewordsfordifferentkindsofwind,aredisappearingbeforelinguistsgetthechancetoexplorethem.Andthatdisappearancehasbroaderimplicationsfortheunderstandingofhowhumansprocesslanguage,linguistLenoreGrenobletoldYoder.“There’salotwedon’tknowabouthowitworks,orhowthemindworkswhenitdoesthis,”shesaid.Yoder’sarticledealtwiththeeffectofclimatechangeonlanguageloss.Insum:ithastenslanguagelossaspeoplemigratetomorecentral,“safe”groundwhentheirownlandisthreatenedbyintensestorms,sealevelrise,droughtandotherthingscausedbyclimatechange.“Whenpeoplesettleinanewplace,theybeginanewlife,completewithnewsurroundings,newtraditions,and,yes,anewlanguage,”shewrote. 3.WelosesomeofthebestlocalresourcesforcombatingenvironmentalthreatsAsNancyRivenburgh wrote fortheInternationalAssociationofConferenceInterpreters,what’shappeningwithtoday’slanguagelossisactuallyquitedifferentfromanythingthathappenedbefore.Languagesinthepastdisappearedandwerebornanew,shewrites,but“theydidsoinastateofwhatlinguistscall‘linguisticequilibrium.’Inthelast500years,however,theequilibriumthatcharacterizedmuchofhumanhistoryisnowgone.Andtheworld’sdominantlanguages—orwhatareoftencalled‘metropolitan’languages—areallnowrapidlyexpandingattheexpenseof ‘peripheral’indigenouslanguages.Thoseperipherallanguagesarenotbeingreplaced.”Thatmeansthatoutofthearound7000languagesthatmostreputablesourcesestimatearespokenglobally,onlythetop100arewidelyspoken.Anditisn’tjustourunderstandingofthehumanmindthat’simpaired,shewrites.Inmanyplaces,indigenouslanguagesandtheirspeakersarerichsourcesofinformationabouttheworldaroundthemandtheplantsandanimalsintheareawheretheylive.Inatimeofmassextinction,thatknowledgeisespeciallyprecious.“Medicalsciencelosespotentialcures,”shewrites.“Resourceplannersandnationalgovernmentsloseaccumulatedwisdomregardingthemanagementofmarineandlandresourcesinfragileecosystems.”4. Somepeoplelosetheirmothertongue.Therealtragedyofallthismightjustbeallofthepeoplewhofindthemselvesunabletospeaktheirfirstlanguage,thelanguagetheylearnedhowtodescribetheworldin.Somefindthemselvesintheunenviablepositionofbeingoneof thefew (or theonly)speakersoftheirmothertongue.Andsome,likemanyofCanada’sindigenouspeoples,findtheirlanguageingravedanger astheresultofacampaign bygovernmenttostampouttheircultures. Thislossissomethingbeyondalltheotherlosses,linguistJohnLipski told LisaDucheneforPennStateNews:“Imaginebeingtoldyoucan’tuseyourlanguageandyou’llseewhatthatundefinable‘more’is,”hesaid.Whatcanyoudoaboutallthis?Educateyourself,tostartwith.TheSmithsonian'sannual MotherTongueFilmFestival takesplaceeveryFebruaryinWashington,D.C.Andprojectslike NationalGeographic's"EnduringVoices"areagreatplacetolearnaboutendangeredlanguagesandtheirmanyspeakers,andUNESCO'sown website isanotherresource. There'sstillhopeforsomeoftheselanguagesifwepayattention. WhatarethebenefitsofWeChatwallet?Itisconvenient,easyandsafe.Youdon’tevenneedabankaccounttousetheWeChatwallet.YourCashandCardsaresafelystoredintheWalletviaourlicensedpaymentserviceprovidersandStandardBank..TheWeChatWalletisdesignedpurelyformobilepayments,makingiteasytonavigateandcompletepaymentsfromyourfavouritemerchantsinoneapp.YoucanalsoinstantlysendmoneytoyourWeChatcontacts,eveniftheydon’thaveabankaccount.人教版选修九第4单元Exploringplants阅读理解1.Gothroughthetextquicklyandmatchthetopicwitheachparagraph.A.WardianCase   B.Problemsofkeepingplantsaliveonlongtrips C.RobertFortuneintroducedChinesetea    D.Whenplant-plantingbegan E.BritishplantcollectorJosephBanks F.FatherForgesandtheDoveTreeG.Whenandwhereplantcollectingbeganonalargescale.H.FrenchCatholicmissionariescollectedplantsinChinaI.Europeanscollectedplantstowesterngardens.2.Choosethebestanswer.A组1)Thefirstrecordedplantexplorationbegan____________.A.Inthe18thcentury   B.about1500yearsago C.about3500yearsago  D.about2500yearsago 2).Plantcollectorsmetmanydifficultiesexcept____________.A.Diseaseandnearstarvation        B.theconflictswithlocalpeopleC.RestrictionsonthemovementofEuropeans D.lackofmoney 3).Whatresultedinthecompletechangeofplantexploration?A.JamesCook’sfirstvoyage     B.TheinventionoftheWardianCaseC.Thedovetree’sgrowinginEurope D. FrenchCatholicmissionaries’setup4).Oneofthefollowingplantcollectors,whohadneverbeentoChina?A.RobertFortune B.FatherForges  C.E.H.Wilson D.SirJosephBanksB组1).Thepassagemainlytellsabout___________.A.atightlysealedportableglasscontainerB.thedifficultiesofkeepingplantsaliveduringvoyagesC.SirJosephBanksD.plantexplorationinthe18thand19thcenturies2).Whywasthesecondhalfofthe19thcenturyaveryimportantperiodofplantexploration?A.Becausethemissionariesgottoknowhowtocollectspecimens.B.BecausemanyCatholicmissionariesweresenttoChinaandbroughtbackhugeplantcollections.C.Becausea tightlysealedportableglasscontainerwasinventedthen.D.SirJosephBanksaccompaniedJamesCookonhisvoyage.3).Whatdoestheword“fluency”meaninthe7thsentence?A.goodmasteryofthelanguageknowledgeB.skillfulnessinspeakingorwritingC.thestateofbeingcognitivelyskillfulD.thequalityofbeingpoorinspeechandwriting4).WhowasabletocollectseedsoftheDoveTreethen?A.FatherForges B.NathanielWard C.EHWilson D.JosephBanks(I)PutthefollowingintoChinese.Expressionsfrom:PLANTEXPLORATIONINTHE18THAND19THCENTURIESdatebacktotheearliesttimes,bringback…fromdistantlands,gatherplants，itwasnotuntil…that…,onalargescale,taketheopportunityof…,goonbotanicalexpeditions,facemanydangers,vastquantitiesof…,keep…alive,betransportedonlongjourneys,makeareturntrip,maketripsto…,shaveone’sheadintheChinesestyle,experiencemanyadventures,piratesontheYangtzeRiver,valuethestudyofthenaturalsciences,resultin,appealtosb.setoneselfup(II)Completethesummaryofthetextwithonewordineachblank.Itwasnot___1__theeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies__2___theexplorationofthebotanicalworldbegan__3___alargescale.Animportantgroupofcollectors___4___FrenchCatholicmissionaries____5__,bythemiddleofthe18thcentury,__6____beginningtosetthemselvesupinChina.__7____plantsaliveduringlonglandorseavoyages___8___anenormouschallenge.__9____numbersofseedsfailedtogrowafterlongsea__10____ortripsacrossland___11___AsiaandEurope.Theworldofplantexploration___12___completelychanged___13___DrNathanielWard’sinvention___14___atightlysealedportableglasscontainer．Thisinvention,___15___theWardiancase,allowedplantstobe__16____onlongjourneys.ABritishman__17____RobertFortunewasoneoftheearliestplant__18____touseWardiancases.__19____secondhalfofthenineteenthcentury___20___averyimportantperiodofplant__21____.DuringthistimemanyCatholicmissionaries___22___senttoChinafromFrance.___23___themissionariescollectedlargenumbers___24___specimens,therewas__25____enoughmaterialforgrowingparticularspeciesin___26___gardens.参考答案：1.Para1D Para2G Para3H Para4E Para5B Para6A Para7C Para8F Para9I2.A组 CDBD 3.B组 DBBC4.短语翻译(略) 5.填空：1.until2.that3.on4.were5.who6.were7.Keeping8.was9.Large10.voyages11.between12.was13.with14.of15.called16.transported17.called18.collectors19.The20.was21.exploration22.were23.Although24.of25.not