Question

【題目】 Students who study foreign languages do not need to care whether the grammar is easy or difficult. By changing the order of the words and by adding some auxiliary verbs (助動詞)and suffixes (后綴), we can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken place or is soon to take place, and perform many other word skills to express different meanings. However, the question which many language experts can’t understand or explain is — who created grammar?

Some recent languages were developed from the Atlantic slave trade(大西洋奴隸貿(mào)易). Since the slaves didn’t know each other’s languages, they developed a language called a pidgin. Pidgins are strings of words (字串) copied from the language of the landowners. They have little in the way of grammar, and speakers need to use too many words to make their meaning understood, however, Slave children didn’t simply copy the strings of words used by their elders. They adapted their words to create an expressive language. In this way complex grammar systems which come from pidgins were invented.

Further facts can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages are not simply a group of gestures; they use the same grammatical system that is found in spoken languages. A recent record of the creation of this language was born in Nicaragua. Previously, although deaf children were taught speech and lip reading in the classrooms, on the playgrounds they began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures they used at home. It was basically a pidgin and didn’t meet grammar rules. However, a new system was born when children who joined the school later developed a quite different sign language. It was based on the signs of the older children, but it was shorter and easier to understand, and it had a large range of special use of grammar to explain the meaning. What s more, they all used the signs in the same way. So the original pidgin was greatly improved.

Most experts believe that many of the languages were pidgins at first. They were used in different groups of people without rules and gradually turned into a widely accepted system. The English past tense — “ed” ending — may have come from the verb “do”. “It ended” may once have been “It end-did”. It seems that children have grammatical machinery in their brains. Their minds can create different structures, even when there is no grammar present for them to copy.

【1】What can be inferred (推斷) about the slaves’ pidgin language?

A.It was difficult to understand.B.It came from different languages.

C.It was created by the landowners.D.It contained highly complex grammar.

【2】What does the underlined word “they” refer to?

A.SlaveB.PidginsC.Slave childrenD.Grammar systems

【3】What is the type of the new Nicaraguan sign language?

A.No same signs were used for communication.

B.Most of the gestures were made for everyday activities.

C.The hand movements were smoother and more attractive.

D.The meaning was clearer than the previous sign language.

【4】Which idea does the author present in the last paragraph?

A.English grammar of past tense system is incorrect.

B.Children say English past tense differently from adults.

C.The thought that English was once a pidgin is acceptable.

D.Experts have proven that English was created by children.

【5】What is the best title for the passage?

A.The Creators of grammarB.The History of Languages

C.Why Pidgins Came into BeingD.How Grammar Systems Are Used

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】D

【4】C

【5】A

【解析】

本文探討了語法是怎樣產(chǎn)生的。并舉了兩個例子：大西洋奴隸貿(mào)易中產(chǎn)生的混合語，尼加拉瓜混合語。大多數(shù)專家認(rèn)為，許多語言起初都是混合語。它們被用于不同的無規(guī)則人群中，逐漸成為一個被廣泛接受的系統(tǒng)。英語曾經(jīng)是混合語。似乎孩子們的大腦里有語法機器。他們的思想可以創(chuàng)建不同的結(jié)構(gòu)，即使沒有語法供他們復(fù)制。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段中Pidgins are strings of words (字串) copied from the language of the landowners. They have little in the way of grammar, and speakers need to use too many words to make their meaning understood, however, Slave children didn’t simply copy the strings of words used by their elders. They adapted their words to create an expressive language. In this way complex grammar systems which come from pidgins were invented.（pidgins是從土地所有者的語言中復(fù)制的字符串。他們的語法幾乎沒有，說話者需要用太多的詞來理解他們的意思，然而，奴隸兒童并不是簡單地模仿他們的長輩們使用的字串。他們用詞來創(chuàng)造一種富有表現(xiàn)力的語言。以這種方式，來自pidgins的復(fù)雜語法系統(tǒng)被發(fā)明出來。）描述可知關(guān)于奴隸的Pidgins語是很難理解的。故選A。

【2】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)上文Slave children didn’t simply copy the strings of words used by their elders. （奴隸孩子并不是簡單地模仿長輩們所用的字串。）和此句They adapted their words to create an expressive language.（他們用詞來創(chuàng)造一種富有表現(xiàn)力的語言。）句意可知They指代Slave children（奴隸的孩子）；選C。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。A. No same signs were used for communication沒有使用相同的標(biāo)志進行交流；根據(jù)第3段倒數(shù)第2句What s more, they all used the signs in the same way.（更重要的是，他們都以同樣的方式使用這些手勢。）可知A錯誤；B. Most of the gestures were made for everyday activities. 大多數(shù)手勢是為日�；顒幼龅�；根據(jù)第2段中on the playgrounds they began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures they used at home.（在操場上，他們開始發(fā)明自己的手勢系統(tǒng)，使用用他們在家里使用的手勢）可知B錯誤；C. The hand movements were smoother and more attractive. 手的動作更流暢，更有吸引力；根據(jù)but it was shorter and easier to understand, （但它較短，更容易理解）可知C錯誤；根據(jù)第3段最后一句So the original pidgin was greatly improved.（因此原來的混合語（pidgin）得到了很大的改進。）可知新尼加拉瓜手語的類型是意義比以前的手語清楚。故選D。

【4】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第3和4句 The English past tense — “ed” ending — may have come from the verb “do”. “It ended” may once have been “It end-did”.（英語過去時“ed”結(jié)尾可能來自動詞“do”�！�It ended”可能曾經(jīng)是“It end-did”。）可知作者認(rèn)為混合英語曾經(jīng)是可以接受的。故選C。

【5】主旨理解題。本文探討了語法是怎樣產(chǎn)生的。并舉了兩個例子：大西洋奴隸貿(mào)易中產(chǎn)生的混合語，尼加拉瓜混合語�？芍@篇文章的最佳標(biāo)題是語法的創(chuàng)造者。故選A。