（一）Some Things We Know About Language

Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so. But some things we do know.

First, we know that all human beings have a language of some sort. There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language, no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one another. Furthermore, in historical times, there has never been a race of men without a language.

Second, there is no such thing as a primitive language. There are many people whose cultures are undeveloped, who are, as we say, uncivilized, but the languages they speak are not primitive. In all known languages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing.

This has not always been well understood; indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated. Popular ideas of the language of the American Indians will illustrate. Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises. Study has proved this to be nonsense. There are, or were, hundreds of American Indian languages, and all of them turn out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with, but they are no more primitive than English and Greek.

A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate. That is, each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language.

Finally, we know that language changes. It is natural and normal for language to change; the only languages which do not change are the dead ones. This is easy to understand if we look backward in time. Change goes on in all aspects of language. Grammatical features change as do speech sounds, and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly. Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.

［词汇提示］

primitive adj. 原始的

uncivilized adj. 不开化的，落后的

complexity n. 复杂性，复杂现象

nonsense n. 胡说，没有根据的话

extensive adj. 广泛的

1. In the second paragraph the author thinks that________.

A. some backward race doesn't have a language of its own

B. some race in history didn't possess a language of its own

C. any human race, whether backward or not, has a language

D. some races on earth can communicate without language

2. According to the author, people of undeveloped cultures can have________languages.

A. complicated

B. uncivilized

C. primitive

D. well-known

3. The author has used American Indian languages as an example to show that they are________.

A. just as old as some well-known languages

B. just as sophisticated as some well-known languages

C. more developed than some well-known languages

D. more complex than some well-known languages

4. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

A. A language is a means of expressing a particular culture.

B. All languages can well express their respective cultures.

C. American Indian languages are as sophisticated as English.

D. Some languages are better than other languages.

5. According to the author, language changes are most likely to occur in________.

A. grammar

B. pronunciation

C. vocabulary

D. intonation

［答案解析］

1．C。［解析］作者观点题。第二段第二句话表明了作者的观点：There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language...任何种族不管落后与否都有语言。对比选项，只有C项符合此意，故答案为C。

2．A。［解析］作者观点题。作者在原文第三段表示没有简单的语言，即使是文化不发达的民族的语言也不简单。可见，正确答案就是complicated：复杂的。

3．B。［解析］含有例证的作者观点题。参见原文第四段最后一句：They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with, but they are no more primitive than English and Greek. 作者举例的目的是证明这些语言和我们熟悉的语言一样先进。故答案为B。

4．D。［解析］三正一误的细节考查题。作者在文章中表明不同的语言没有好与坏的差别，由此可见选项D是错误的。故答案为D。

5．C。［解析］作者观点题。原文末句：Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language. 词汇是语言中最容易发生变化的部分。故答案为C。