A.Because of the bad weather.B.Because of his young age.C.Because he lost his way whil
A. Because of the bad weather.
Because of his young age.
C. Because he lost his way while crossing the ocean.
D. Because he had no partner to help him.
A.Save money.B.Cut down on waste.C.Protect the forests.D.Keep the environment clean.
A. Save money.
B. Cut down on waste.
C. Protect the forests.
D. Keep the environment clean.
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique--a speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw new light on an old scientific controversy: whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born with. or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world's only liberal arts university for deaf people.
When Bill Stoker went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stoker noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed differently from their classroom teacher.
Stoker had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form. of pidgin English (混杂英语). But Stoker believed the "hand talk" his students used looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually have a genuine language? And could that language be unlike any other on Earth? It was in 1955, when even deaf people dismissed their signing as "substandard". Stoker's idea was academic heresy (异端邪说).
It is 37 years later. Stoker-now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture--is having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modulation (调节) of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the modulation of space. "What I said," Stoker explains, "is that language is not mouth stuff-- it's brain stuff."
According to the passage, the study of sign language is thought to be______.
A. an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language
B. an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language
C. a challenge to traditional views on the nature of language
D. a new way to take at the learning of language
听力原文:M: Hello, could I speak to Karen, please?
W: Speaking.
M: Hi, Karen, it's Jack.
W: Hello, Jack. What's up?
M: A bunch of us are going to a new Thai restaurant for dinner tonight. How about coming with us?
W: I'd love to, but I have to prepare for my speech. I'll be the main talker in the classroom discussion tomorrow morning.
M: Oh, what a shame, maybe next time.
W: I'm so sorry.
M: Never mind. Are you afraid of making a speech?
W: I'm a little nervous indeed.
M: I hate to get up in front of many people. I often forget what to say and don't know where to put my hands.
W: Oh, it's not so serious as that. Someone might get frozen up for a while before the audience. But when you have made a start, you can carry on with what you've prepared, and your performance won't be too bad.
M: Yes. There is something I should learn from you, you know, self-confidence. By the way, how have you prepared your speech?
W: Not very well, I'm afraid. I didn't write every word of the speech, I just have an outline of about 80 words.
M: Are you sure you can do the presentation well only depending on a rough draft of the main ideas?
W: Yes, almost. You know, the speech is about my personal experience in learning spoken English. I'm going to talk on the most familiar topic to my classmates. I'm not afraid of anything. The key problem is how to compose the speech with a reasonable flow.
M: You're wonderful! I hope you succeed in tomorrow's public speaking.
W: Thanks a lot.
(20)
A. He wants the woman to give him some advice on preparing a speech.
B. He wants to invite the woman to dinner.
C. He wants to help the woman with her speech.
D. He wants to invite the woman to listen to a public speech.