高考英语真题阅读（24）

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 hunter-gatherers, small, tightly knit (联系) 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, industrialisation, the development of the nation-state and the spread of universal compulsory education, especially globalisation 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 while 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 (中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.

Already well over 400 of the total of 6,800 languages are 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.

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1.What can we infer about languages in hunter-gatherer times?

A They developed very fast.

B They were large in number.

C They had similar patters.

D They were closely connected.

解析：选B。推理判断题。根据第一段第二、三句可知，当世界仍是狩猎采集者的聚居地(狩猎时代)时，小而紧密联系的群落形成了彼此独立的语言模式。当世界的人口数量不到一千万时，语言种类达到了12000种。由此推知，当时的语言种类很多。故选B。

2.Which of the following best explains "dominant" underlined in paragraph 2？

A Complex.

B Advanced.

C Powerful.

D Modern.

解析：选C。词义猜测题。根据第二段dominant languages such as English, Spanish and Chinese are increasingly taking over.可知，英语、西班牙语和汉语逐渐占据主要地位。由此推知dominant languages意为：强有力的语言。故选C。

3.How many languages are spoken by less than 6,000 people at present?

A About 6,800.

B About 3,400.

C About 2,400.

D About 1,200.

解析：选B。细节理解题。根据第三段At present, the world has about 6,800 languages.和The median number (中位数) of speakers is a mere 6,000, which means that half the worlds languages are spoken by fewer people than that.可知，目前全世界约有6800种语言，但是使用者人数少于6000人的占一半即3400。故选B。

4.What is the main idea of the text?

A New languages will be created.

B Peoples lifestyles are reflected in languages.

C Human development results in fewer languages.

D Geography determines language evolution.

解析：选C。主旨大意题。根据第一段主题句Languages have been coming and going for thousands of years, but in recent times there has been less coming and a lot more going.可知，语言的产生和消失进行了几千年，但近代语言产生的少，消失的多。故选C。