【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