Economic development is driving the extinction of some languages, scientists believe.

A study has found that minority languages in the most developed parts of the world, including North America, Europe and Australia, are most at threat.

The researchers say that efforts to protect these languages need to be focused on these areas. Tatsuya Amano, from the University of Cambridge, said: “World languages are now rapidly being lost. This is a very serious situation. We wanted to know how the extinction is distributed globally and what the main drivers of this are.”

The researchers found that the more successful a country was economically, the more rapidly its languages were being lost. They said that in North America, languages such as Upper Tanana, were now spoken by fewer than 25 people in Alaska, and were at risk of disappearing forever. In Europe, languages such as Ume Sami in Scandinavia or Auvergnat in France are fading fast.

Dr Amano said: “As economies develop, one language often comes to dominate a nation’s political and educational fields. People are forced to adopt the ruling language or risk being left out in the cold - economically and politically.”

The team also found that languages in the Himalayas are at risk, such as Bahing in Nepal, which has an estimated eight speakers. “These countries are experiencing rapid economic growth, so in the near future these languages will face risk of extinction,” said Dr Amano. 

Daniel Kaufman of the Endangered Language Alliance, said: “Environmental factors have been overtaken by social, political and economic factors. We are now seeing a pattern of linguistic diversity that was originally shaped by the environment give way to a pattern that is being shaped by policy and economic realities. 

“The environmental pattern at this point is largely historical consequences. We will no longer see areas of a particular environmental type lead to language variety. The economic influence is very obvious in that there are places within the language diversity ‘hotspots’ where whole villages are being emptied out due to out-migration.”

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1.What is the serious situation according to Tatsuya Amano?

A The extinction of languages is big problem around the world.

B Languages in the developed countries are facing extinction.

C Minority languages are being lost in developed countries.

D Countries along the Himalayas are experiencing economic growth.

解析：选C。C。细节理解题。根据文章第三段可知，Tatsuya Amano所说的严重局面是，经济发达国家的一些少数民族语言正在逐渐消失。

2.What is considered as a minority language that is at risk of extinction in Alaska?

A Bahing.

B Ume Sami.

C Upper Tanana.

D Auvergnat.

解析：选C。C。细节理解题。根据文章第四段…such as Upper Tanana, were now spoken by fewer than 25 people in Alaska可知，在阿拉斯加只有不到25人还懂这种语言。

3.What can be implied in the passage?

A The more developed an economy is, the more influential its language is.

B Language diversity is caused more by environment than by politics.

C Historical reasons caused the extinction of languages.

D Language disappearance is a worldwide problem.

解析：选A。A。推理判断题。根据文章第五段…to adopt the ruling language or risk being left out in the cold - economically and politically可知人们适应处于支配地位的语言，就不会在经济和政治上落后，由此判断，经济体愈发达，属于这个经济体的语言就愈有影响力。

4.What is it that puts languages in the Himalayas at risk?

A The serious environmental pollution.

B The long-term political movement.

C The particular type of migration.

D The rapid economic growth.

解析：选D。D。细节理解题。根据文章第六段…are experiencing rapid economic growth, so in the near future these languages will face risk of extinction可知，喜马拉雅山脉周围的国家经济飞速发展，因此该地区的语言在不久的将来将会消失。经济发展是语言消失的原因。

5.What is the author’s attitude toward the extinction of some languages in the world?

A Worried.

B Suspicious.

C Enthusiastic.

D Indifferent.

解析：选A。A。推理判断题。根据文章中的serious, threat, risk, no longer see等消极词语的应用可以判断，作者对于经济发展导致某些语言消失的结果感到很是担忧。