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       劍橋雅思閱讀4原文(test2)

　　READING PASSAGE 1

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

　　Lost for words

　　Many minority languages are on the danger list

　　In the Native American Navajo nation, which sprawls across four states in the American south-west, the native language is dying. Most of its speakers are middle-aged or elderly. Although many students take classes in Navajo, the schools are run in English. Street signs, supermarket goods and even their own newspaper are all in English. Not surprisingly, linguists doubt that any native speakers of Navajo will remain in a hundred years’ time.

　　Navajo is far from alone. Half the world’s 6,800 languages are likely to vanish within two generations — that’s one language lost every ten days. Never before has the planet’s linguistic diversity shrunk at such a pace. ‘At the moment, we are heading for about three or four languages dominating the world,’ says Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading. ‘It’s a mass extinction, and whether we will ever rebound from the loss is difficult to know.’

　　Isolation breeds linguistic diversity: as a result, the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people. Only 250 languages have more than a million speakers, and at least 3,000 have fewer than 2,500. It is not necessarily these small languages that are about to disappear. Navajo is considered endangered despite having 150,000 speakers. What makes a language endangered is not just the number of speakers, but how old they are. If it is spoken by children it is relatively safe. The critically endangered languages are those that are only spoken by the elderly, according to Michael Krauss, director of the Alassk Native Language Center, in Fairbanks.

　　Why do people reject the language of their parents? It begins with a crisis of confidence, when a small community finds itself alongside a larger, wealthier society, says Nicholas Ostler, of Britain’s Foundation for Endangered Languages, in Bath. ‘People lose faith in their culture,’ he says. ‘When the next generation reaches their teens, they might not want to be induced into the old traditions.’

　　The change is not always voluntary. Quite often, governments try to kill off a minority language by banning its use in public or discouraging its use in schools, all to promote national unity. The former US policy of running Indian reservation schools in English, for example, effectively put languages such as Navajo on the danger list. But Salikoko Mufwene, who chairs the Linguistics department at the University of Chicago, argues that the deadliest weapon is not government policy but economic globalisation. ‘Native Americans have not lost pride in their language, but they have had to adapt to socio-economic pressures,’ he says. ‘They cannot refuse to speak English if most commercial activity is in English.’ But are languages worth saving? At the very least, there is a loss of data for the study of languages and their evolution, which relies on comparisons between languages, both living and dead. When an unwritten and unrecorded language disappears, it is lost to science.

　　Language is also intimately bound up with culture, so it may be difficult to preserve one without the other. ‘If a person shifts from Navajo to English, they lose something,’ Mufwene says. ‘Moreover, the loss of diversity may also deprive us of different ways of looking at the world,’ says Pagel. There is mounting evidence that learning a language produces physiological changes in the brain. ‘Your brain and mine are different from the brain of someone who speaks French, for instance,’ Pagel says, and this could affect our thoughts and perceptions. ‘The patterns and connections we make among various concepts may be structured by the linguistic habits of our community.’

　　So despite linguists’ best efforts, many languages will disappear over the next century. But a growing interest in cultural identity may prevent the direst predictions from coming true. ‘The key to fostering diversity is for people to learn their ancestral tongue, as well as the dominant language,’ says Doug Whalen, founder and president of the Endangered Language Fund in New Haven, Connecticut. ‘Most of these languages will not survive without a large degree of bilingualism,’ he says. In New Zealand, classes for children have slowed the erosion of Maori and rekindled interest in the language. A similar approach in Hawaii has produced about 8,000 new speakers of Polynesian languages in the past few years. In California, ‘a(chǎn)pprentice’ programmes have provided life support to several indigenous languages. Volunteer ‘a(chǎn)pprentices’ pair up with one of the last living speakers of a Native American tongue to learn a traditional skill such as basket weaving, with instruction exclusively in the endangered language. After about 300 hours of training they are generally sufficiently fluent to transmit the language to the next generation. But Mufwene says that preventing a language dying out is not the same as giving it new life by using it every day. ‘Preserving a language is more like preserving fruits in a jar,’ he says.

　　However, preservation can bring a language back from the dead. There are examples of languages that have survived in written form and then been revived by later generations. But a written form is essential for this, so the mere possibility of revival has led many speakers of endangered languages to develop systems of writing where none existed before.

　　Questions 1-4

　　Complete the summary below.

　　Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

　　Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

　　There are currently approximately 6,800 languages in the world. This great variety of languages came about largely as a result of geographical 1…… . But in today’s world, factors such as government initiatives and 2…… are contributing to a huge decrease in the number of languages. One factor which may help to ensure that some endangered languages do not die out completely is people’s increasing appreciation of their 3…… . This has been encouraged through programmes of language classes for children and through ‘a(chǎn)pprentice’ schemes, in which the endangered language is used as the medium of instruction to teach people a 4…… . Some speakers of endangered languages have even produced writing systems in order to help secure the survival of their mother tongue.’

　　Questions 5-9

　　Look at the following statements (Questions 5-9) and the list of people in the box below. Match each statement with the correct person A-E.

　　Write the appropriate letter A-E in boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet.

　　NB You may use any letter more than once.

　　5 Endangered languages cannot be saved unless people learn to speak more than one language.

　　6 Saving languages from extinction is not in itself a satisfactory goal.

　　7 The way we think may be determined by our language.

　　8 Young people often reject the established way of life in their community.

　　9 A change of language may mean a loss of traditional culture.

　　A Michael Krauss

　　B Salikoko Mufwene

　　C Nicholas Ostler

　　D Mark Pagel

　　E Doug Whalen

　　Questions 10-13

　　Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 1?

　　In boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet write

　　YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

　　NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

　　10 The Navajo Language will die out because it currently has too few speakers.

　　11 A large number of native speakers fail to guarantee the survival of a language.

　　12 National governments could do more to protect endangered languages.

　　13 The loss of linguistic diversity is inevitable.

　　READING PASSAGE 2

　　You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

　　ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE IN AUSTRALIA

　　The first students to study alternative medicine at university level in Australia began their four-year, full-time course at the University of Technology, Sydney, in early 1994. Their course covered, among other therapies, acupuncture. The theory they learnt is based on the traditional Chinese explanation of this ancient healing art: that it can regulate the flow of ‘Qi’ or energy through pathways in the body. This course reflects how far some alternative therapies have come in their struggle for acceptance by the medical establishment.

　　Australia has been unusual in the Western world in having a very conservative attitude to natural or alternative therapies, according to Dr Paul Laver, a lecturer in Public Health at the University of Sydney. ‘We’ve had a tradition of doctors being fairly powerful and I guess they are pretty loath to allow any pretenders to their position to come into it.’ In many other industrialised countries, orthodox and alternative medicine have worked ‘hand in glove’ for years. In Europe, only orthodox doctors can prescribe herbal medicine. In Germany, plant remedies account for 10% of the national turnover of pharmaceuticals. Americans made more visits to alternative therapists than to orthodox doctors in 1990, and each year they spend about $US 12 billion on therapies that have not been scientifically tested.

　　Disenchantment with orthodox medicine has seen the popularity of alternative therapies in Australia climb steadily during the past 20 years. In a 1983 national health survey, 1.9% of people said they had contacted a chiropractor, naturopath, osteopath, acupuncturist or herbalist in the two weeks prior to the survey. By 1990, this figure had risen to 2.6% of the population. The 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists reported in the 1990 survey represented about an eighth of the total number of consultations with medically qualified personnel covered by the survey, according to Dr Laver and colleagues writing in the Australian Journal of Public Health in 1993. ‘A better educated and less accepting public has become disillusioned with the experts in general, and increasingly sceptical about science and empirically based knowledge,’ they said. ‘The high standing of professionals, including doctors, has been eroded as a consequence.’

　　Rather than resisting or criticising this trend, increasing numbers of Australian doctors, particularly younger ones, are forming group practices with alternative therapists or taking courses themselves, particularly in acupuncture and herbalism. Part of the incentive was financial, Dr Laver said. ‘The bottom line is that most general practitioners are business people. If they see potential clientele going elsewhere, they might want to be able to offer a similar service.’

　　In 1993, Dr Laver and his colleagues published a survey of 289 Sydney people who attended eight alternative therapists’ practices in Sydney. These practices offered a wide range of alternative therapies from 25 therapists. Those surveyed had experienced chronic illnesses, for which orthodox medicine had been able to provide little relief. They commented that they liked the holistic approach of their alternative therapists and the friendly, concerned and detailed attention they had received. The cold, impersonal manner of orthodox doctors featured in the survey. An increasing exodus from their clinics, coupled with this and a number of other relevant surveys carried out in Australia, all pointing to orthodox doctors’ inadequacies, have led mainstream doctors themselves to begin to admit they could learn from the personal style of alternative therapists. Dr Patrick Store, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, concurs that orthodox doctors could learn a lot about bedside manner and advising patients on preventative health from alternative therapists.

　　According to the Australian Journal of Public Health, 18% of patients visiting alternative therapists do so because they suffer from musculo-skeletal complaints; 12% suffer from digestive problems, which is only 1% more than those suffering from emotional problems. Those suffering from respiratory complaints represent 7% of their patients, and candida sufferers represent an equal percentage. Headache sufferers and those complaining of general ill health represent 6% and 5% of patients respectively, and a further 4% see therapists for general health maintenance.

　　The survey suggested that complementary medicine is probably a better term than alternative medicine. Alternative medicine appears to be an adjunct, sought in times of disenchantment when conventional medicine seems not to offer the answer.

　　Questions 14 and 15

　　Choose the correct letter, A, B C or D.

　　Write your answers in boxes 14 and 15 on your answer sheet.

　　14 Traditionally, how have Australian doctors differed from doctors in many Western countries?

　　A They have worked closely with pharmaceutical companies.

　　B They have often worked alongside other therapists.

　　C They have been reluctant to accept alternative therapists.

　　D They have regularly prescribed alternative remedies.

　　15 In 1990, Americans

　　A were prescribed more herbal medicines than in previous years.

　　B consulted alternative therapists more often than doctors.

　　C spent more on natural therapies than orthodox medicines.

　　D made more complaints about doctors than in previous years.

　　Questions 16-23

　　Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 2?

　　In boxes 16-23 on your answer sheet write

　　YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

　　NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

　　NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

　　16 Australians have been turning to alternative therapies in increasing numbers over the past 20 years.

　　17 Between 1983 and 1990 the numbers of patients visiting alternative therapists rose to include a further 8% of the population.

　　18 The 1990 survey related to 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists.

　　19 In the past, Australians had a higher opinion of doctors than they do today.

　　20 Some Australian doctors are retraining in alternative therapies.

　　21 Alternative therapists earn higher salaries than doctors.

　　22 The 1993 Sydney survey involved 289 patients who visited alternative therapists for acupuncture treatment.

　　23 All the patients in the 1993 Sydney survey had long-term medical complaints.

　　Questions 24-26

　　Complete the vertical axis on the table below.

　　Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for answer.

　　Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

　　READING PASSAGE 3

　　You should ,spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below

　　PLAY IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS

　　Does play help develop bigger, better brains?

　　Bryant Furlow investigates

　　A Playing is a serious business. Children engrossed in a make-believe world, fox cubs play-fighting or kittens teasing a ball of string aren’t just having fun. Play may look like a carefree and exuberant way to pass the time before the hard work of adulthood comes along, but there’s much more to it than that. For a start, play can even cost animals their lives. Eighty per cent of deaths among juvenile fur seals occur because playing pups fail to spot predators approaching. It is also extremely expensive in terms of energy. Playful young animals use around two or three per cent of their energy cavorting, and in children that figure can be closer to fifteen per cent. ‘Even two or three per cent is huge,’ says John Byers of Idaho University. ‘You just don’t find animals wasting energy like that,’ he adds. There must be a reason.

　　B But if play is not simply a developmental hiccup, as biologists once thought, why did it evolve? The latest idea suggests that play has evolved to build big brains. In other words, playing makes you intelligent. Playfulness, it seems, is common only among mammals, although a few of the larger-brained birds also indulge. Animals at play often use unique signs — tail-wagging in dogs, for example — to indicate that activity superficially resembling adult behaviour is not really in earnest. A popular explanation of play has been that it helps juveniles develop the skills they will need to hunt, mate and socialise as adults. Another has been that it allows young animals to get in shape for adult life by improving their respiratory endurance. Both these ideas have been questioned in recent years.

　　C Take the exercise theory. If play evolved to build muscle or as a kind of endurance training, then you would expect to see permanent benefits. But Byers points out that the benefits of increased exercise disappear rapidly after training stops, so any improvement in endurance resulting from juvenile play would be lost by adulthood. ‘If the function of play was to get into shape,’ says Byers, ‘the optimum time for playing would depend on when it was most advantageous for the young of a particular species to do so. But it doesn’t work like that.’ Across species, play tends to peak about halfway through the suckling stage and then decline.

　　D Then there’s the skills-training hypothesis. At first glance, playing animals do appear to be practising the complex manoeuvres they will need in adulthood. But a closer inspection reveals this interpretation as too simplistic. In one study, behavioural ecologist Tim Caro, from the University of California, looked at the predatory play of kittens and their predatory behaviour when they reached adulthood. He found that the way the cats played had no significant effect on their hunting prowess in later life.

　　E Earlier this year, Sergio Pellis of Lethbridge University, Canada, reported that there is a strong positive link between brain size and playfulness among mammals in general. Comparing measurements for fifteen orders of mammal, he and his team found larger brains (for a given body size) are linked to greater playfulness. The converse was also found to be true. Robert Barton of Durham University believes that, because large brains are more sensitive to developmental stimuli than smaller brains, they require more play to help mould them for adulthood. ‘I concluded it’s to do with learning, and with the importance of environmental data to the brain during development,’ he says.

　　F According to Byers, the timing of the playful stage in young animals provides an important clue to what’s going on. If you plot the amount of time a juvenile devotes to play each day over the course of its development, you discover a pattern typically associated with a ‘sensitive period’ — a brief development window during which the brain can actually be modified in ways that are not possible earlier or later in life. Think of the relative ease with which young children — but not infants or adults — absorb language. Other researchers have found that play in cats, rats and mice is at its most intense just as this ‘window of opportunity’ reaches its peak.

　　G ‘People have not paid enough attention to the amount of the brain activated by play,’ says Marc Bekoff from Colorado University. Bekoff studied coyote pups at play and found that the kind of behaviour involved was markedly more variable and unpredictable than that of adults. Such behaviour activates many different parts of the brain, he reasons. Bekoff likens it to a behavioural kaleidoscope, with animals at play jumping rapidly between activities. ‘They use behaviour from a lot of different contexts — predation, aggression, reproduction,’ he says. ‘Their developing brain is getting all sorts of stimulation.’

　　H Not only is more of the brain involved in play than was suspected, but it also seems to activate higher cognitive processes. ‘There’s enormous cognitive involvement in play,’ says Bekoff. He points out that play often involves complex assessments of playmates, ideas of reciprocity and the use of specialised signals and rules. He believes that play creates a brain that has greater behavioural flexibility and improved potential for learning later in life. The idea is backed up by the work of Stephen Siviy of Gettysburg College. Siviy studied how bouts of play affected the brain’s levels of a particular chemical associated with the stimulation and growth of nerve cells. He was surprised by the extent of the activation. ‘Play just lights everything up,’ he says. By allowing link-ups between brain areas that might not normally communicate with each other, play may enhance creativity.

　　I What might further experimentation suggest about the way children are raised in many societies today? We already know that rat pups denied the chance to play grow smaller brain components and fail to develop the ability to apply social rules when they interact with their peers. With schooling beginning earlier and becoming increasingly exam-orientated, play is likely to get even less of a look-in. Who knows what the result of that will be?

　　Questions 27-32

　　Reading Passage 3 had nine paragraphs labeled A-I.

　　Which paragraph contains the following information?

　　Write the correct letter A-I in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

　　NB You may use any letter more than once.

　　27 the way play causes unusual connections in the brain which are beneficial

　　28 insights from recording how much time young animals spend playing

　　29 a description of the physical hazards that can accompany play

　　30 a description of the mental activities which are exercised and developed during play

　　31 the possible effects that a reduction in play opportunities will have on humans

　　32 the classes of animals for which play is important

　　Questions 33-35

　　Choose THREE letters A-F.

　　Write your answers in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.

　　The list below gives some ways of regarding play.

　　Which THREE ways are mentioned by the writer of the text?

　　A a rehearsal for later adult activities

　　B a method animals use to prove themselves to their peer group

　　C an activity intended to build up strength for adulthood

　　D a means of communicating feelings

　　E a defensive strategy

　　F an activity assisting organ growth

　　Questions 36-40

　　Look at the following researchers (Questions 36-40) and the list of findings below.

　　Match each researcher with the correct finding.

　　Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

　　36 Robert Barton

　　37 Marc Bekoff

　　38 John Byers

　　39 Sergio Pellis

　　40 Stephen Siviy

　　List of Findings

　　A There is a link between a specific substance in the brain and playing.

　　B Play provides input concerning physical surroundings.

　　C Varieties of play can be matched to different stages of evolutionary history.

　　D There is a tendency for mammals with smaller brains to play less.

　　E Play is not a form of fitness training for the future.

　　F Some species of larger-brained birds engage in play.

　　G A wide range of activities are combined during play.

　　H Play is a method of teaching survival techniques.

　　劍橋雅思閱讀4原文參考譯文(test2)

　　Passage 1

　　參考譯文

　　Lost for words

　　Many minority languages are on the danger list

　　語言的消失

　　——許多少數(shù)民族語言瀕臨滅絕

　　In the Native American Navajo nation, which sprawls across four states in the American south-west, the native language is dying. Most of its speakers are middle-aged or elderly. Although many students take classes in Navajo, the schools are run in English. Street signs, supermarket goods and even their own newspaper are all in English. Not surprisingly, linguists doubt that any native speakers of Navajo will remain in a hundred years’ time.

　　對(duì)于居住在美國西南部四州的那瓦霍人來講，他們的語言正在遭遇滅頂之災(zāi)。大多數(shù)說那瓦霍語的人要么是中年人，要么就是垂垂老者。盡管有許多學(xué)生都在學(xué)習(xí)該門語言，可是學(xué)校卻是用英文授課的。路牌、超市商品說明、甚至報(bào)紙全部是英文的。因此語言學(xué)家懷疑在百年之后還會(huì)不會(huì)有人會(huì)說這門語言也就不足為奇了。

　　Navajo is far from alone. Half the world’s 6,800 languages are likely to vanish within two generations — that’s one language lost every ten days. Never before has the planet’s linguistic diversity shrunk at such a pace. ‘At the moment, we are heading for about three or four languages dominating the world,’ says Mark Pagel, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Reading. ‘It’s a mass extinction, and whether we will ever rebound from the loss is difficult to know.’

　　那瓦霍語決不是惟一會(huì)有此厄運(yùn)的語言。再經(jīng)歷兩代人的時(shí)間，全球6,800種語言當(dāng)中的半數(shù)就有可能從世界上徹底消失——這就相當(dāng)于平均每十天就有一種語言消失。地球上語言的多樣性從未以如此驚人的速度降低過?！艾F(xiàn)在，我們面臨的將是兩三種語言支配整個(gè)世界?！崩锥〈髮W(xué)的進(jìn)化生物學(xué)家Marl Pagel說，“這就是(語言的)大規(guī)模滅絕，而且我們很難知道能否從這種語言滅絕當(dāng)中恢復(fù)過來。”

　　Isolation breeds linguistic diversity: as a result, the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people. Only 250 languages have more than a million speakers, and at least 3,000 have fewer than 2,500. It is not necessarily these small languages that are about to disappear. Navajo is considered endangered despite having 150,000 speakers. What makes a language endangered is not just the number of speakers, but how old they are. If it is spoken by children it is relatively safe. The critically endangered languages are those that are only spoken by the elderly, according to Michael Krauss, director of the Alassk Native Language Center, in Fairbanks.

　　封閉產(chǎn)生了語言的多樣性。結(jié)果整個(gè)世界就布滿了只有幾個(gè)人說的語言。只有250種語言擁有超過100萬的使用者，而至少有3,000種語言使用者不足2,500人。那些行將消失的小語種并非命該如此。盡管仍有15萬人在使用那瓦霍語，但這種語言還是上了瀕危名單。判斷一種語言是否瀕危的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)不是使用者的數(shù)量，而是使用者的年齡。如果一種語言是孩子們?cè)谑褂?，就?huì)相對(duì)安全些。用費(fèi)爾班克斯Alassk語言中心的主任Micheal Krauss的話說就是，真正面臨滅絕之災(zāi)的是那些只有老年人才懂得說的語言。

　　Why do people reject the language of their parents? It begins with a crisis of confidence, when a small community finds itself alongside a larger, wealthier society, says Nicholas Ostler, of Britain’s Foundation for Endangered Languages, in Bath. ‘People lose faith in their culture,’ he says. ‘When the next generation reaches their teens, they might not want to be induced into the old traditions.’

　　可人們?yōu)槭裁淳芙^說他們父母的語言呢?這一切都始于一場信任危機(jī)。BATH英國瀕危語言基金會(huì)成員Nicholas Ostler說：“當(dāng)一個(gè)小規(guī)模社會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己與一個(gè)大規(guī)模，更富有的社會(huì)并肩而存的時(shí)候，其成員就會(huì)對(duì)自己的文化喪失信心。當(dāng)這個(gè)社會(huì)的下一代進(jìn)人青春期的時(shí)候，他們很可能不會(huì)接受(包括語言在內(nèi)的)傳統(tǒng)事物。”

　　The change is not always voluntary. Quite often, governments try to kill off a minority language by banning its use in public or discouraging its use in schools, all to promote national unity. The former US policy of running Indian reservation schools in English, for example, effectively put languages such as Navajo on the danger list. But Salikoko Mufwene, who chairs the Linguistics department at the University of Chicago, argues that the deadliest weapon is not government policy but economic globalisation. ‘Native Americans have not lost pride in their language, but they have had to adapt to socio-economic pressures,’ he says. ‘They cannot refuse to speak English if most commercial activity is in English.’ But are languages worth saving? At the very least, there is a loss of data for the study of languages and their evolution, which relies on comparisons between languages, both living and dead. When an unwritten and unrecorded language disappears, it is lost to science.

　　這種轉(zhuǎn)變往往不是自發(fā)的。為了加強(qiáng)國家凝聚力，政府通常會(huì)通過在公共場合禁用，以及在學(xué)校中不提倡使用的方法，消滅少數(shù)民族語言。例如，以前美國政府在印地安保留地學(xué)校推行英語授課政策，這事實(shí)上就是將那瓦霍語等少數(shù)語言推上了瀕危名單。但是芝加哥大學(xué)語言學(xué)系系主任Salikoko Mufwene認(rèn)為，最致命的原因并不是政府政策，而是經(jīng)濟(jì)的全球化。他說，“美國印地安人并沒有失去對(duì)他們自己語言的信心，但是他們不得不去適應(yīng)社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力。如果大多數(shù)生意都是用英語來談的，他們就不能拒絕說英語，但是，瀕危語言就真的值得去挽救嗎?至少，對(duì)于語言及其進(jìn)化研究來講，(不去挽救)就會(huì)導(dǎo)致資料的缺失，因?yàn)樵撗芯空腔趯?duì)現(xiàn)存的和過去的語言的比較而進(jìn)行的。當(dāng)一門既無文字記錄也無錄音考證的語言消失時(shí)，對(duì)于科學(xué)(研究)來講，它也就不存在了。

　　Language is also intimately bound up with culture, so it may be difficult to preserve one without the other. ‘If a person shifts from Navajo to English, they lose something,’ Mufwene says. ‘Moreover, the loss of diversity may also deprive us of different ways of looking at the world,’ says Pagel. There is mounting evidence that learning a language produces physiological changes in the brain. ‘Your brain and mine are different from the brain of someone who speaks French, for instance,’ Pagel says, and this could affect our thoughts and perceptions. ‘The patterns and connections we make among various concepts may be structured by the linguistic habits of our community.’

　　語言與文化也有千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系，因此要想單純保存語言而不保留文化是非常困難的?！叭绻粋€(gè)本來說那瓦霍語的人現(xiàn)在要改說英語，那么他準(zhǔn)得失去點(diǎn)東西。”Mufwene說道，Pagel也評(píng)價(jià)道，“而且，語言多樣性的喪失也使我們無法以多種方式來看待這個(gè)世界。”越來越多的證據(jù)表明，學(xué)習(xí)一門語言可以為大腦帶來生理上的變化?！氨热缯f，你我的大腦與說法語人的大腦就十分不同，”Page說，這是會(huì)影響我們的思維和看法的?！拔覀冡槍?duì)不同的概念建立了不同的模式和聯(lián)系，這很可能就是由我們社會(huì)的語言習(xí)慣構(gòu)筑而成的。”

　　So despite linguists’ best efforts, many languages will disappear over the next century. But a growing interest in cultural identity may prevent the direst predictions from coming true. ‘The key to fostering diversity is for people to learn their ancestral tongue, as well as the dominant language,’ says Doug Whalen, founder and president of the Endangered Language Fund in New Haven, Connecticut. ‘Most of these languages will not survive without a large degree of bilingualism,’ he says. In New Zealand, classes for children have slowed the erosion of Maori and rekindled interest in the language. A similar approach in Hawaii has produced about 8,000 new speakers of Polynesian languages in the past few years. In California, ‘a(chǎn)pprentice’ programmes have provided life support to several indigenous languages. Volunteer ‘a(chǎn)pprentices’ pair up with one of the last living speakers of a Native American tongue to learn a traditional skill such as basket weaving, with instruction exclusively in the endangered language. After about 300 hours of training they are generally sufficiently fluent to transmit the language to the next generation. But Mufwene says that preventing a language dying out is not the same as giving it new life by using it every day. ‘Preserving a language is more like preserving fruits in a jar,’ he says.

　　所以，盡管語言學(xué)家已經(jīng)竭盡全力，但是許多語言到了下個(gè)世紀(jì)還是會(huì)消失。但是，一種對(duì)文化認(rèn)同感越來越多的關(guān)注，也許會(huì)阻止最駭人的預(yù)言成為現(xiàn)實(shí)?！氨３终Z言多樣性的關(guān)鍵在于，讓人們接受主流語言的同時(shí)，也去學(xué)習(xí)他們祖先的語言?！笨的堑腋裰菁~黑文市瀕危語言基金會(huì)主席Doug Whalen說道，“如果不實(shí)行雙語制度，大多數(shù)瀕危語言都無法生存下去?！痹谛挛魈m，為孩子們開設(shè)的課程明顯減輕了毛利語所受的損害，并且重新燃起了人們對(duì)該語言的興趣。在夏威夷，一種相似的方式使波利尼西亞語的使用者在過去數(shù)年中增長了8,000人。在加利福尼亞州，“學(xué)徒”計(jì)劃使得數(shù)種土著語言得以生存?！皩W(xué)徒”志愿者與某種印地安語的最后一些使用者中的一位組成小組，學(xué)習(xí)如編織籃子這樣的傳統(tǒng)工藝，當(dāng)然交流全部都是用印地安語。通常，經(jīng)過300個(gè)小時(shí)的訓(xùn)練后，他們就可以流利地說了，其流利程度足以將這種語言傳給他們的子女。但是Mufwene指出，避免語言消失并不等同于通過每天的使用賦予其新的生命。他指出，“保存語言更像用罐子保存水果?！?/p>

　　However, preservation can bring a language back from the dead. There are examples of languages that have survived in written form and then been revived by later generations. But a written form is essential for this, so the mere possibility of revival has led many speakers of endangered languages to develop systems of writing where none existed before.

　　然而，通過保存的確可以使一門語言起死回生。已經(jīng)有例子表明，有些語言通過文字記錄被保存了下來，而且還在后代中得以復(fù)興。當(dāng)然，文字記錄是這其中的關(guān)鍵。因此，單單是這種語言復(fù)興的可能性，就使得很多說瀕危語言的人試圖去創(chuàng)造本來并不存在的文字系統(tǒng)。

　　Passage 2

　　參考譯文

　　ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE IN AUSTRALIA

　　澳大利亞的另類療法

　　The first students to study alternative medicine at university level in Australia began their four-year, full-time course at the University of Technology, Sydney, in early 1994. Their course covered, among other therapies, acupuncture. The theory they learnt is based on the traditional Chinese explanation of this ancient healing art: that it can regulate the flow of ‘Qi’ or energy through pathways in the body. This course reflects how far some alternative therapies have come in their struggle for acceptance by the medical establishment.

　　1994年初，澳大利亞第一批另類療法學(xué)生在悉尼科技大學(xué)開始了他們?yōu)槠谒哪甑娜氄n程。除了學(xué)習(xí)其他一些療法之外，他們的課程還包括針灸術(shù)，他們所學(xué)的理論基于中國古代對(duì)這門古老療法的解釋：那就是針灸可以調(diào)節(jié)“氣”或能量在人體神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)中的流通。這門課程足以反映另類療法在爭取醫(yī)療機(jī)構(gòu)認(rèn)同的斗爭中所取得的成果。

　　Australia has been unusual in the Western world in having a very conservative attitude to natural or alternative therapies, according to Dr Paul Laver, a lecturer in Public Health at the University of Sydney. ‘We’ve had a tradition of doctors being fairly powerful and I guess they are pretty loath to allow any pretenders to their position to come into it.’ In many other industrialised countries, orthodox and alternative medicine have worked ‘hand in glove’ for years. In Europe, only orthodox doctors can prescribe herbal medicine. In Germany, plant remedies account for 10% of the national turnover of pharmaceuticals. Americans made more visits to alternative therapists than to orthodox doctors in 1990, and each year they spend about $US 12 billion on therapies that have not been scientifically tested.

　　由于對(duì)自然或另類療法所采取的極端保守態(tài)度，澳大利亞在西方國家中獨(dú)樹一幟。悉尼大學(xué)公共健康系博士Paul Laver評(píng)價(jià)道：“我們有個(gè)傳統(tǒng)，醫(yī)生是相當(dāng)權(quán)威的，我猜他們很不愿意讓那些覬覦他們位置的冒牌貨得逞?！痹谄渌S多工業(yè)國家里，正統(tǒng)醫(yī)生和另類醫(yī)師早已親密無間地合作多年了。在歐洲，只有正統(tǒng)醫(yī)生才可以開草藥。在德國，草藥占了藥品銷售額的10%。1990年美國人去看另類療法醫(yī)師的次數(shù)比去看傳統(tǒng)醫(yī)生的次數(shù)還多，而每年，他們花在未經(jīng)科學(xué)測試的療法上的錢竟髙達(dá)約120億美元。

　　Disenchantment with orthodox medicine has seen the popularity of alternative therapies in Australia climb steadily during the past 20 years. In a 1983 national health survey, 1.9% of people said they had contacted a chiropractor, naturopath, osteopath, acupuncturist or herbalist in the two weeks prior to the survey. By 1990, this figure had risen to 2.6% of the population. The 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists reported in the 1990 survey represented about an eighth of the total number of consultations with medically qualified personnel covered by the survey, according to Dr Laver and colleagues writing in the Australian Journal of Public Health in 1993. ‘A better educated and less accepting public has become disillusioned with the experts in general, and increasingly sceptical about science and empirically based knowledge,’ they said. ‘The high standing of professionals, including doctors, has been eroded as a consequence.’

　　在過去20年中，由于人們對(duì)傳統(tǒng)醫(yī)療不再迷信，另類療法在澳大利亞慢慢流行起來。在1983年進(jìn)行的全國健康調(diào)査中，有1.9%的人說此前兩周內(nèi)曾經(jīng)去看過按摩師、理療家、整骨醫(yī)師、針灸醫(yī)生或草藥醫(yī)生。到了1990年，這個(gè)數(shù)字已經(jīng)攀升到澳大利亞人口的2.6%。根據(jù)Laver博士和他的同事們刊登在1993年《澳大利亞公共健康期刊》上的報(bào)道：在1990年調(diào)査中，另類療法醫(yī)生進(jìn)行了55萬次診斷，這個(gè)數(shù)字幾乎占了調(diào)查中所有醫(yī)療診斷的八分之一?！翱傮w而言，受過良好教育又不那么輕信的民眾已經(jīng)對(duì)專家失望了，而且對(duì)科學(xué)和經(jīng)驗(yàn)主義知識(shí)已經(jīng)越來越懷疑了，”博士們說，“結(jié)果，包括醫(yī)生在內(nèi)的專業(yè)人士的崇高地位也就大打折扣?！?/p>

　　Rather than resisting or criticising this trend, increasing numbers of Australian doctors, particularly younger ones, are forming group practices with alternative therapists or taking courses themselves, particularly in acupuncture and herbalism. Part of the incentive was financial, Dr Laver said. ‘The bottom line is that most general practitioners are business people. If they see potential clientele going elsewhere, they might want to be able to offer a similar service.’

　　越來越多的澳大利亞醫(yī)生，特別是那些年輕一些的醫(yī)師，非但沒有抵制或是批判這樣一個(gè)潮流，反而開始與另類療法醫(yī)師聯(lián)合開業(yè)，或是干脆自己去學(xué)習(xí)相關(guān)課程，尤其是針灸和草藥醫(yī)學(xué)。Laver博士說，部分動(dòng)機(jī)當(dāng)然是出于經(jīng)濟(jì)考慮?！瓣P(guān)鍵在于大多數(shù)全科醫(yī)生都是商人。如果他們看到潛在的客戶去別處看病，他們就想也要能提供類似的服務(wù)。”

　　In 1993, Dr Laver and his colleagues published a survey of 289 Sydney people who attended eight alternative therapists’ practices in Sydney. These practices offered a wide range of alternative therapies from 25 therapists. Those surveyed had experienced chronic illnesses, for which orthodox medicine had been able to provide little relief. They commented that they liked the holistic approach of their alternative therapists and the friendly, concerned and detailed attention they had received. The cold, impersonal manner of orthodox doctors featured in the survey. An increasing exodus from their clinics, coupled with this and a number of other relevant surveys carried out in Australia, all pointing to orthodox doctors’ inadequacies, have led mainstream doctors themselves to begin to admit they could learn from the personal style of alternative therapists. Dr. Patrick Store, President of the Royal College of General Practitioners, concurs that orthodox doctors could learn a lot about bedside manner and advising patients on preventative health from alternative therapists.

　　1993年，Laver博士和他的同事們發(fā)表了一項(xiàng)調(diào)查報(bào)告，報(bào)告包括289名曾到8家另類療法診所尋求治療的悉尼市民。這些診所共有25名另類治療師，提供相當(dāng)廣泛的另類療法。接受調(diào)查的人都患有慢性疾病，正統(tǒng)療法治療對(duì)這些疾病的效果微乎其微。病人們?cè)u(píng)價(jià)說他們喜歡另類療法醫(yī)師所采取的全面的治療手段，也喜歡那里友善熱情、細(xì)致入微的關(guān)懷。這次調(diào)査揭示了正統(tǒng)醫(yī)生的冷漠態(tài)度。病人從診所中大批離去，加上其他一些相關(guān)的全國性調(diào)查的結(jié)果，矛頭直指正統(tǒng)醫(yī)生的不足之處，這就使得他們開始承認(rèn)應(yīng)該學(xué)習(xí)一下另類療法醫(yī)師的親切態(tài)度。就連皇家醫(yī)學(xué)院的Patrik Stone博士也贊同說，正統(tǒng)醫(yī)生應(yīng)該多學(xué)習(xí)另類療法醫(yī)師對(duì)待病人的態(tài)度，還有他們給病人的預(yù)防建議。

　　According to the Australian Journal of Public Health, 18% of patients visiting alternative therapists do so because they suffer from musculo-skeletal complaints; 12% suffer from digestive problems, which is only 1% more than those suffering from emotional problems. Those suffering from respiratory complaints represent 7% of their patients, and candida sufferers represent an equal percentage. Headache sufferers and those complaining of general ill health represent 6% and 5% of patients respectively, and a further 4% see therapists for general health maintenance.

　　根據(jù)《澳大利亞公共健康期刊》，18%的病人因?yàn)榈昧思∪夤趋婪矫娴募膊《タ戳眍愥t(yī)師;12%的人則是因?yàn)橄到y(tǒng)疾病，這個(gè)數(shù)字只比因?yàn)楦星閱栴}而去就醫(yī)的人多1個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。呼吸系統(tǒng)疾病患者和假絲酵母過敏者各占7%。頭疼就醫(yī)者和整體感覺身體不適而就醫(yī)者分別占到了6%和5%，還有4%的人看醫(yī)生只是為了保持身體健康。

　　The survey suggested that complementary medicine is probably a better term than alternative medicine. Alternative medicine appears to be an adjunct, sought in times of disenchantment when conventional medicine seems not to offer the answer.

　　這項(xiàng)調(diào)查表明，與另類療法這個(gè)字眼相比，互補(bǔ)療法是個(gè)更為合適的稱呼。前者聽起來仿佛是正統(tǒng)療法的附庸，一種只有當(dāng)你對(duì)傳統(tǒng)療法的無能為力失望后，才會(huì)去追尋的東西。

　　Passage 3

　　參考譯文

　　PLAY IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS

　　Does play help develop bigger, better brains? Bryant Furlow investigates

　　玩耍是件嚴(yán)肅的事

　　玩耍能否幫助大腦發(fā)育得更大更好?Bryant Furlow就此展開了調(diào)査。

　　A Playing is a serious business. Children engrossed in a make-believe world, fox cubs play-fighting or kittens teasing a ball of string aren’t just having fun. Play may look like a carefree and exuberant way to pass the time before the hard work of adulthood comes along, but there’s much more to it than that. For a start, play can even cost animals their lives. Eighty per cent of deaths among juvenile fur seals occur because playing pups fail to spot predators approaching. It is also extremely expensive in terms of energy. Playful young animals use around two or three per cent of their energy cavorting, and in children that figure can be closer to fifteen per cent. ‘Even two or three per cent is huge,’ says John Byers of Idaho University. ‘You just don’t find animals wasting energy like that,’ he adds. There must be a reason.

　　A玩耍是件嚴(yán)肅的事。孩子們沉溺在假想的世界中，狐貍幼崽兒嬉戲打鬧，小貓玩線球，這些行為都不只是取樂而已?？瓷先ネ嫠Ｊ浅扇耸澜绲男量喙ぷ鞯絹碇?，無憂無慮、精力充沛的消磨時(shí)光的方式，其實(shí)遠(yuǎn)非如此。首先，玩?？赡苁箘?dòng)物們送命。比如，百分之八十的小海狗死亡都是因?yàn)橥嫠Ｖ械男『９窙]能看到接近的捕食者。玩耍也是相當(dāng)消耗精力的。頑皮的小動(dòng)物要花上百分之二三的精力來嬉戲打鬧，而對(duì)于兒童而言，這個(gè)數(shù)字可以高達(dá)百分之十五?！熬退阒挥邪俜种彩莻€(gè)不小的數(shù)目了。”Idaho大學(xué)的John Byers說道，“你很難發(fā)現(xiàn)動(dòng)物們?nèi)绱讼木?。”Byers補(bǔ)充說?？傆幸欢ǖ脑蚴顾麄冞@么做。

　　B But if play is not simply a developmental hiccup, as biologists once thought, why did it evolve? The latest idea suggests that play has evolved to build big brains. In other words, playing makes you intelligent. Playfulness, it seems, is common only among mammals, although a few of the larger-brained birds also indulge. Animals at play often use unique signs — tail-wagging in dogs, for example — to indicate that activity superficially resembling adult behaviour is not really in earnest. A popular explanation of play has been that it helps juveniles develop the skills they will need to hunt, mate and socialise as adults. Another has been that it allows young animals to get in shape for adult life by improving their respiratory endurance. Both these ideas have been questioned in recent years.

　　B但是，如果玩耍不像生物學(xué)家們過去認(rèn)為的那樣，只是發(fā)育過程中的小插曲的話，那么到底是什么促使了玩耍的發(fā)展呢?最新的觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為玩耍可以促進(jìn)大腦的發(fā)育。換句話說，玩耍使你變得聰明。盡管一些腦子比較大的鳥類也沉溺其中，但玩耍好像還是只在哺乳動(dòng)物中普遍存在。玩耍中的動(dòng)物會(huì)用一些獨(dú)特的標(biāo)志——比如狗搖尾巴來表明這種簡單模仿大動(dòng)物行為的舉動(dòng)并不是玩真的。一種有關(guān)玩耍的普遍觀點(diǎn)說，玩耍能幫助小動(dòng)物發(fā)展成年之后捕獵、交配以及社交所需要的技能。另一個(gè)理論認(rèn)為，通過增強(qiáng)小動(dòng)物的呼吸耐力，玩耍可以幫助他們?cè)隗w力上更適應(yīng)成年生活。但是這兩個(gè)理論近年來都遭到了置疑。

　　C Take the exercise theory. If play evolved to build muscle or as a kind of endurance training, then you would expect to see permanent benefits. But Byers points out that the benefits of increased exercise disappear rapidly after training stops, so any improvement in endurance resulting from juvenile play would be lost by adulthood. ‘If the function of play was to get into shape,’ says Byers, ‘the optimum time for playing would depend on when it was most advantageous for the young of a particular species to do so. But it doesn’t work like that.’ Across species, play tends to peak about halfway through the suckling stage and then decline.

　　C就拿鍛煉理論來說吧。如果玩耍是為了增強(qiáng)肌肉，或是進(jìn)行某種耐力訓(xùn)練，那么我們應(yīng)該能夠看到一些終生的效果。但是Byers指出，訓(xùn)練一結(jié)束，由增強(qiáng)訓(xùn)練所帶來的好處就隨之迅速消失了，所以，任何通過小時(shí)候的玩耍增強(qiáng)的耐力到了成年階段就會(huì)消失殆盡了?！叭绻嫠５淖饔镁褪鞘股眢w健康的話，”Byers說道，“那么玩耍的最佳時(shí)間就應(yīng)該是對(duì)于某種小動(dòng)物(身體發(fā)展)最有利的時(shí)間，但是，實(shí)際情況并非如此?！睙o論什么種群的動(dòng)物，玩耍都傾向于在哺乳期的中期達(dá)到頂峰，然后則開始走下坡路。

　　D Then there’s the skills-training hypothesis. At first glance, playing animals do appear to be practising the complex manoeuvres they will need in adulthood. But a closer inspection reveals this interpretation as too simplistic. In one study, behavioural ecologist Tim Caro, from the University of California, looked at the predatory play of kittens and their predatory behaviour when they reached adulthood. He found that the way the cats played had no significant effect on their hunting prowess in later life.

　　D接著，我們又有了技能訓(xùn)練假說。乍看上去，玩耍的小動(dòng)物好像是在練習(xí)那些成年時(shí)必須的復(fù)雜動(dòng)作。但是，更為仔細(xì)的觀察表明，這種解釋把問題簡單化了。在某項(xiàng)研究中，California大學(xué)的行為生態(tài)學(xué)家Tim Caro觀察了小貓的捕食游戲以及它們成年之后的捕獵行為。他發(fā)現(xiàn)，小貓玩耍的方式對(duì)成年后的捕獵技能并沒有太大的影響。

　　E Earlier this year, Sergio Pellis of Lethbridge University, Canada, reported that there is a strong positive link between brain size and playfulness among mammals in general. Comparing measurements for fifteen orders of mammal, he and his team found larger brains (for a given body size) are linked to greater playfulness. The converse was also found to be true. Robert Barton of Durham University believes that, because large brains are more sensitive to developmental stimuli than smaller brains, they require more play to help mould them for adulthood. ‘I concluded it’s to do with learning, and with the importance of environmental data to the brain during development,’ he says.

　　E今年早些時(shí)候，加拿大Lethbridge大學(xué)的Sergio Pellis公布說，哺乳動(dòng)物的玩耍與他們大腦的大小往往成正比。在比較了十五種哺乳動(dòng)物的測量數(shù)據(jù)之后，Sergio和他的研究小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，更多的玩耍會(huì)造就大一些的腦子(與身體大小比較而言)，而且這個(gè)理論反過來也成立。Durham大學(xué)的Robert Barton認(rèn)為，由于大一座的腦子比小一些的腦子對(duì)發(fā)育刺激更敏感，因此它們需要更多的玩耍來促進(jìn)它們發(fā)育至成年期。他說：“我的結(jié)論是，玩耍與學(xué)習(xí)有關(guān)，也與大腦發(fā)育過程中環(huán)境資料的重要性有關(guān)?！?/p>

　　F According to Byers, the timing of the playful stage in young animals provides an important clue to what’s going on. If you plot the amount of time a juvenile devotes to play each day over the course of its development, you discover a pattern typically associated with a ‘sensitive period’ — a brief development window during which the brain can actually be modified in ways that are not possible earlier or later in life. Think of the relative ease with which young children — but not infants or adults — absorb language. Other researchers have found that play in cats, rats and mice is at its most intense just as this ‘window of opportunity’ reaches its peak.

　　F根據(jù)Byers的理論，對(duì)于小動(dòng)物而言，玩耍期的時(shí)機(jī)對(duì)未來的發(fā)展至關(guān)重要。如果你用圖表來表明在發(fā)育期間，小動(dòng)物每天用于玩耍的時(shí)間的話，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)一種一般與“敏感期”相關(guān)聯(lián)的模式。所謂“敏感期”指的是發(fā)育過程中一個(gè)短暫的階段，在這一階段中，大腦會(huì)獲得此前和此后都不可能獲得的改變。想想孩子們?cè)趯W(xué)習(xí)語言時(shí)那種嬰兒們和大人們都無法做到的得心應(yīng)手吧。其他學(xué)者也發(fā)現(xiàn)，貓、田鼠和家鼠最愛玩耍的時(shí)期恰好是這扇“機(jī)會(huì)之窗”達(dá)到峰值的時(shí)候。

　　G ‘People have not paid enough attention to the amount of the brain activated by play,’ says Marc Bekoff from Colorado University. Bekoff studied coyote pups at play and found that the kind of behaviour involved was markedly more variable and unpredictable than that of adults. Such behaviour activates many different parts of the brain, he reasons. Bekoff likens it to a behavioural kaleidoscope, with animals at play jumping rapidly between activities. ‘They use behaviour from a lot of different contexts — predation, aggression, reproduction,’ he says. ‘Their developing brain is getting all sorts of stimulation.’

　　G“人們沒有充分注意到玩耍激活了大腦多少部件?！盋olorado大學(xué)的Marc Bekoff說。Becoff研究了玩要的小土狼，發(fā)現(xiàn)其中所涉及的行為顯然比成年土狼的花樣更多，更不可預(yù)測。他推斷，這樣的行為能激活大腦許多不同的部分。由于動(dòng)物們?cè)谕嫠r(shí)行為總是迅速地變換，Becoff將玩耍比喻為一個(gè)行為萬花筒。“他們會(huì)做出不同環(huán)境所需要的動(dòng)作——捕獵，進(jìn)攻，繁殖等，而他們正在發(fā)育的大腦獲得了各種各樣的刺激?！?/p>

　　H Not only is more of the brain involved in play than was suspected, but it also seems to activate higher cognitive processes. ‘There’s enormous cognitive involvement in play,’ says Bekoff. He points out that play often involves complex assessments of playmates, ideas of reciprocity and the use of specialised signals and rules. He believes that play creates a brain that has greater behavioural flexibility and improved potential for learning later in life. The idea is backed up by the work of Stephen Siviy of Gettysburg College. Siviy studied how bouts of play affected the brain’s levels of a particular chemical associated with the stimulation and growth of nerve cells. He was surprised by the extent of the activation. ‘Play just lights everything up,’ he says. By allowing link-ups between brain areas that might not normally communicate with each other, play may enhance creativity.

　　H大腦不僅比猜想中更多地參與玩耍，而且好像還能夠激活更髙級(jí)的認(rèn)知過程?！巴嫠Ｖ杏泻芏嗟恼J(rèn)知成分。”Becoff指出。玩耍通常包括對(duì)玩伴的評(píng)估，互相依存的觀念，以及恃殊標(biāo)志及規(guī)則的使用。他認(rèn)為玩耍會(huì)創(chuàng)造一個(gè)更具行為靈活性，在今后生活中更多學(xué)習(xí)潛力的大腦。這一觀點(diǎn)得到了Gettysburg學(xué)院Stephen Siviy研究結(jié)果的支持。Siviy認(rèn)為玩耍能夠影響大腦中一種特殊化學(xué)物質(zhì)的分泌，這種物質(zhì)會(huì)刺激神經(jīng)細(xì)胞生長。他被這種刺激可能達(dá)到的程度嚇了一跳?！巴嫠Ｊ挂磺卸甲兊没顫娖饋??！蓖ㄟ^使大腦中不常交流的部分產(chǎn)生聯(lián)系，玩耍也許會(huì)提髙創(chuàng)造力。

　　I What might further experimentation suggest about the way children are raised in many societies today? We already know that rat pups denied the chance to play grow smaller brain components and fail to develop the ability to apply social rules when they interact with their peers. With schooling beginning earlier and becoming increasingly exam-orientated, play is likely to get even less of a look-in. Who knows what the result of that will be?

　　I進(jìn)一步的實(shí)驗(yàn)又會(huì)對(duì)如今許多社會(huì)中，孩子們被養(yǎng)育的方式有何影響呢?我們已經(jīng)知道，沒有機(jī)會(huì)玩耍的小老鼠，大腦各部分發(fā)育得比較小，同時(shí)也不具備運(yùn)用社會(huì)規(guī)則與其他小老鼠交流的能力。在上學(xué)年齡越來越早，學(xué)校教育越來越應(yīng)試化的今天，大家對(duì)玩耍的作用不屑一顧。誰會(huì)知道這樣做會(huì)帶來什么樣的影響呢?

　　劍橋雅思閱讀4原文解析(test2)

　　Question 1

　　答案：isolation

　　關(guān)鍵詞：6800/variety of language/geographical

　　定位原文：第3段第1句“Isolation breeds linguistic diversity: as a result, the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people.”

　　解題思路：根據(jù)這句話可知，語言多樣性是由于地理上的isolation。

　　Question 2

　　答案：economic globalization/globalization/socio-economic pressures

　　關(guān)鍵詞：government/huge decrease

　　定位原文：第5段第4句“…the deadliest weapon is not government policy but economic pressures...”

　　解題思路：本題目要看清楚問的是語言消失的原因，and表示并列，因此空中應(yīng)該填與government initiatives對(duì)等的原因，而文中第五段前半部分提到政府政策對(duì)語言的影響，但是科學(xué)家們也指出，真正致命的原因是社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力。

　　Question 3

　　答案：cultural identity

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Increasing appr?eciation/language classes

　　定位原文：第7段第2句話“But a growing interest in cultural identity may prevent the direst predictions from coming true.”

　　解題思路：“increasing appreciation”和文中的“growing interest”是同義替換，故正確答案是cultural identity?！?/p>

　　Question 4

　　答案：traditional skill

　　關(guān)鍵詞：‘a(chǎn)pprentice’/teach/a

　　定位原文：第7段倒數(shù)第4句“Volunteer 'apprentices' pair up with one of the last living speakers of a Native American tongue to learn a traditional skill such as basket weaving, with instruction exclusively in the endangered language.”

　　解題思路：“apprentice”做為定位詞，題干這句話的意思是在學(xué)徒計(jì)劃中，瀕危語言被用來作為載體來教授人們一種……，文中的“l(fā)earn”與“teach”在意思上有關(guān)聯(lián)，而不定冠詞“a”之后要填一個(gè)專有名詞。

　　Question 5

　　答案：E

　　關(guān)鍵詞：more than one...

　　定位原文：第7段第4句“Most of these languages will not survive without a large bilingualism…”

　　解題思路：題干這句話正好跟文中這句話表達(dá)的是相同的意思，而文中有這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)的正是E選項(xiàng)。

　　Question 6

　　答案：B

　　關(guān)鍵詞：in itself

　　定位原文：“But Mufwene says that preventing a language dying out is not the same as giving it new life by using it every day。”

　　解題思路：通過這句話可以推測，保護(hù)語言本身并不是目標(biāo)，如何讓語言活起來才是真正目的。故正確答案為B。

　　Question 7

　　答案：D

　　關(guān)鍵詞：think/determine

　　定位原文：第6段倒數(shù)第2句“‘Your brain and mine are different from the brain of someone who speaks French, for instance,’ Pagel says, and this could affect our thoughts and perceptions. ‘The patterns and connections we make among various concepts may be structured by the linguistic habits of our community.’”

　　解題思路：這句話話當(dāng)中提到了說英語的人的大腦與說法語的人大腦的不同，隨后提出語言會(huì)影響我們的想法和觀點(diǎn)。

　　Question 8

　　答案：C

　　關(guān)鍵詞：reject/established/way of life

　　定位原文：第4段最后一句“People lose faith in their culture, When the next generation reaches their teens, they might not want to be induced into the old traditions.”

　　解題思路：題干句子意思是“年輕人經(jīng)常會(huì)拒絕接受社會(huì)約定俗成的生活方式”，正好與文中這句話“語言的轉(zhuǎn)化意味著傳統(tǒng)文化的消失”表達(dá)的意思一致。

　　Question 9

　　答案：B

　　關(guān)鍵詞：loss

　　定位原文：第6段第2句“If a person shifts from Navajo to English, they lose something…”

　　解題思路：文中的shift等同于題目當(dāng)中的change，而傳統(tǒng)文化的存在正意味著人們可以采用不同的觀點(diǎn)來看待這個(gè)世界。

　　Question 10

　　答案：NO

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Navajo

　　定位原文：第3段第4句話“Navajo is considered endangered despite having 150,000 speakers. What makes a language endangered is not just the number of speakers, but how old they are.”

　　解題思路：這句話說有15萬人在使用那瓦霍語，證明使用者并不是很少，在接下來的一句話當(dāng)中，作者又表明使語言瀕臨滅絕的真正原因并不是說的人少，而是說的人太老。

　　Question 11

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：a large number of

　　定位原文：第3段第4句話“Navajo is considered endangered despite having 150,000 speakers.”

　　解題思路：根據(jù)文中給出的證據(jù)，即有15萬人說那瓦霍語，但是這門語言仍然瀕臨滅絕，作者推出了題中的結(jié)論，這個(gè)結(jié)論是正確的。

　　Question 12

　　答案：NOT GIVEN

　　關(guān)鍵詞：government

　　定位原文：第5段

　　解題思路：文中第五段提到了政府，主要是指出政府的政策也是導(dǎo)致語言瀕危的原因，但是此后就并未對(duì)政府的作用再多做敘述，而是轉(zhuǎn)而論述社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)壓力的重要性。本題是典型的節(jié)外生枝型。

　　Question 13

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：linguistic diversity

　　定位原文：第7段第1句“So despite linguists' best efforts, many languages will disappear over the next century.”

　　解題思路：這句話表明盡管語言學(xué)家已經(jīng)竭盡全力，但是許多語言到了下個(gè)世紀(jì)還是會(huì)消失。這句話就表明語言多樣性的消失是不可避免的。

　　定位原文：第3段第1句“Isolation breeds linguistic diversity: as a result, the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people.”

　　Question 14

　　答案：C

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Western

　　定位原文：第1段第1句“Australia has been unusual in the Western world in having a very conservative attitude to natural or alternative therapies, according to Dr Paul Laver, a lecturer in Public Health at the University of Sydney.”

　　解題思路：A答案說澳大利亞醫(yī)生與制藥公司關(guān)系緊密，屬于完全未提及型答案。B答案認(rèn)為澳大利亞醫(yī)生總是和其他醫(yī)師一同工作，與文中所說的事實(shí)恰好相反。D答案說澳大利亞醫(yī)生會(huì)開出另類處方，這也是不正確的。只有C答案與文章敘述相符。

　　Question 15

　　答案：B

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Americans

　　定位原文：第1段倒數(shù)第1句“Americans made more visits to alternative therapists than to orthodox doctors in 1990, and each year they spend about $US 12 billion on therapies that have not been scientifically tested.”

　　解題思路：文中這句話說1990年美國人去看另類療法醫(yī)師的次數(shù)比去看傳統(tǒng)醫(yī)生的次數(shù)還多。所以答案B是正確的。而A、C和D答案中提到的比較關(guān)系并不存在。

　　Question 16

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：20 years

　　定位原文：第2段第1句“Disenchantment with orthodox medicine has seen the popularity of alternative therapies in Australia climb steadily during the past 20 years.”

　　解題思路：在過去20年中，由于人們對(duì)傳統(tǒng)醫(yī)療不再迷信，另類療法在澳大利亞慢慢流行起來。這句話就證明在過去20年里，比以往更多的澳大利亞人開始相信另類療法。

　　Question 17

　　答案：NO

　　關(guān)鍵詞：1983/1990/ a further 8%

　　定位原文：第2段第2句話和第3句話“In a 1983 national health survey, 1.9% of people said they had contacted a chiropractor, naturopath, osteopath, acupuncturist or herbalist in the two weeks prior to the survey. By 1990, this figure had risen to 2.6% of the population.”

　　解題思路：在1983年的調(diào)査中，約有1.9%的人說他們?cè)?jīng)看過另類療法醫(yī)師，到了1990年，這個(gè)數(shù)字上升到了總?cè)丝诘?.6%。如果做減法的話，實(shí)際上人數(shù)上升了將近0.7個(gè)百分點(diǎn)，因此題目中所說的增加8%是錯(cuò)誤的。

　　Question 18

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：550,000

　　定位原文：第2段第4句話“The 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists reported in the 1990 survey represented about an eighth of…”

　　解題思路：題干這句話剛好和定位句的“The 550,000 consultations with alternative therapists”表達(dá)的是同樣的意思，因此是正確的。

　　Question 19

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：had a higher opinion of...

　　定位原文：第2段最后一句“The high standing of professionals, including doctors, has been eroded as a consequence.”

　　解題思路：這句話說的是包括醫(yī)生在內(nèi)的專業(yè)人士的崇高地位也就大打折扣。這句話的含義就是澳大利亞人以前對(duì)醫(yī)生等專業(yè)人士有較高的評(píng)價(jià)，而現(xiàn)在這種觀點(diǎn)已經(jīng)遭受損害。

　　Question 20

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Australian doctors

　　定位原文：第3段第1句“Rather than resisting or criticising this trend, increasing numbers of Australian doctors, particularly younger ones, are forming group practices with alternative therapists or taking courses themselves, particularly in acupuncture and herbalism.”

　　解題思路：這句話表明澳大利亞正統(tǒng)醫(yī)生正在接受另類療法培訓(xùn)，相對(duì)于以前他們接受的正統(tǒng)醫(yī)療培訓(xùn)來說，這次培訓(xùn)無疑是一種再培訓(xùn)。

　　Question 21

　　答案：NOT GIVEN

　　關(guān)鍵詞：salaries

　　定位原文：第3段

　　解題思路：并不存在的比較關(guān)系是TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN題解題的一條黃金法則。尤其當(dāng)作者將兩者進(jìn)行簡單膚淺比較的時(shí)候，一般答案都是NOT GIVEN。文中沒有任何地方提到兩種醫(yī)生的薪水，因此正確答案是NOT GIVEN。

　　Question 22

　　答案：YES

　　關(guān)鍵詞：1993/289

　　定位原文：第4段首句和第二句“In 1993, Dr Laver and his colleagues published a survey of 289 Sydney people who attended eight alternative therapists' practices in Sydney. These practices offered a wide range of alternative therapies from 25 therapists.”

　　解題思路：89名病患去看病的這8家診所提供各種各樣的另類療法服務(wù)，這其中也許包括針灸療法，但是如果說這289名病人都是去做針灸的，就未免有些以偏概全了。

　　Question 23

　　答案：NO

　　關(guān)鍵詞：1993/long-term

　　定位原文：第4段第3句“Those surveyed had experienced chronic illnesses, for which orthodox medicine had been able to provide little relief.”

　　解題思路：chronic是“長期的，慢性的”意思，complaints在此處不是“抱怨，投訴”的意思，而是指疾病。

　　Question 24

　　答案：emotional/emotional problems

　　關(guān)鍵詞：10%-15%

　　定位原文：第5段第1句“12% suffer from digestive problems, which is only 1% more than those suffering from emotional problems.”

　　解題思路：目測該數(shù)字應(yīng)該在10%和15%之間，在第五段尋找這樣一個(gè)數(shù)字，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)12%所對(duì)應(yīng)的是digestive一詞，但是，很快我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)Digestive已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)在了表格上，所以答案應(yīng)該是比12%少一個(gè)百分點(diǎn)的emotional/emotional problems。

　　Question 25

　　答案：headache

　　關(guān)鍵詞：5%-10%

　　定位原文：第5段最后一句“Headache sufferers and those complaining of general ill health represent 6% and 5% of patients respectively…”

　　解題思路：該疾病所對(duì)應(yīng)的數(shù)字應(yīng)該在5%和10%之間，而且應(yīng)該比第26空更接近10%。所以可以回第五段找兩個(gè)相近并且都接近10%的數(shù)字，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)了6%和5%，故此空應(yīng)該填：headache。

　　Question 26

　　答案：general ill health

　　關(guān)鍵詞：5%

　　定位原文：第5段最后一句“Headache sufferers and those complaining of general ill health represent 6% and 5% of patients respectively…”

　　解題思路：該疾病對(duì)應(yīng)數(shù)字是5%，故應(yīng)該填general ill health。

　　Question 27

　　答案：H

　　關(guān)鍵詞：unusual connection

　　定位原文：H段最后1句“By allowing link-ups between brain areas that might not normally communicate with each other, play may enhance creativity.”

　　解題思路：link-up等于connection，后面的play may enhance creativity證明這種不尋常的聯(lián)系是有好處的。

　　Question 28

　　答案：F

　　關(guān)鍵詞：record/time

　　定位原文：F段第2句“If you plot the amount of time...”

　　解題思路：這個(gè)heading的意思是由記錄小動(dòng)物玩耍的時(shí)間而得到的見解，關(guān)鍵詞是時(shí)間，回到文章當(dāng)中尋找對(duì)應(yīng)詞時(shí)，只有這個(gè)段落提到了時(shí)間。plot一詞是用圖表記錄的意思，在這里就等同于record。

　　Question 29

　　答案：A

　　關(guān)鍵詞：physical hazard

　　定位原文：A段第4句之后“For a start, play can even cost animals their lives. Eighty per cent of deaths among juvenile fur seals…”

　　解題思路：問題是問哪一段包含有對(duì)玩要帶來的危險(xiǎn)的描述。文章中只有在第一段中談到了玩要可能帶來的危險(xiǎn)，而且還舉出了小海狗的例子來說明這種危險(xiǎn)的存在。

　　Question 30

　　答案：H

　　關(guān)鍵詞：mental/exercise/develop

　　定位原文：H段前3句“Not only is more of the brain involved in play than was suspected, but it also seems to activate higher… and rules.”

　　解題思路：mental activity是大腦活動(dòng)的意思，問題問的是在玩耍過程當(dāng)中，哪些大腦活動(dòng)得到了練習(xí)和發(fā)展。

　　Question 31

　　答案：I

　　關(guān)鍵詞：effects/reduction

　　定位原文：I段首句和2句“What might further experimentation… with their peers.”

　　解題思路：問題問得是哪一段包含了這樣的內(nèi)容：減少玩耍機(jī)會(huì)可能對(duì)兒童造成的影響。在最后一段中，作者談到了被剝奪了玩耍機(jī)會(huì)的小老鼠大腦就發(fā)育的不好，并且用一個(gè)設(shè)問句表明了他對(duì)人類兒童的憂慮。而且一般來講，含有effect的段意都是對(duì)應(yīng)文章的最后一段。

　　Question 32

　　答案：B

　　關(guān)鍵詞：class/animals

　　定位原文：B段第4句“Playfulness, it seems, is common only among mammals...”

　　解題思路：B段中提到了玩要在哺乳動(dòng)物中很普遍，而且在有些鳥類當(dāng)中也存在，即提到了各種各樣的動(dòng)物。一些同學(xué)會(huì)在E段當(dāng)中看到fifteen orders of mammals一詞，不過仔細(xì)讀下來，E段的主要意思是在講哺乳動(dòng)物中大腦大小和玩耍之間的關(guān)系，并不是說玩耍對(duì)哪種動(dòng)物重要。故答案選B。

　　Question 33-35

　　答案：ACF(IN EITHER ORDER)

　　Question 33

　　答案：A

　　關(guān)鍵詞：rehearsal/adult

　　定位原文：B段倒數(shù)第2句“A popular explanation of play has been that it helps juvenile develop the skills they will need to hunt, mate and socialize as adults.”

　　解題思路：這段中提到了幫助青少年培養(yǎng)作為成年人需要的一些技能，所以A選項(xiàng)正確。

　　Question 34

　　答案：C

　　關(guān)鍵詞：build up strength

　　定位原文：B 段最后一句“Another has been that it allows young animals to get in shape for adult life...”

　　解題思路：“使年輕的動(dòng)物保持體形”與C選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)。

　　Question 35

　　答案：F

　　關(guān)鍵詞：organ growth

　　定位原文：E段首句：“...reported that there is a strong positive link between brain size and playfulness…”

　　解題思路：“在腦部大小與玩耍之間有正面的關(guān)聯(lián)”與F選項(xiàng)對(duì)應(yīng)。

　　Question 36

　　答案：B

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Robert Barton

　　定位原文：E段倒數(shù)第2句和末句 “Robert Barton of Durham University …I concluded it's to do with learning，and with the importance of environmental data to...”

　　解題思路：Barton認(rèn)為玩耍與學(xué)習(xí)有關(guān)，也與大腦發(fā)育過程中環(huán)境資料的重要性有關(guān)。Environmental data可以與physical surroundings對(duì)應(yīng)。

　　Question 37

　　答案：G

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Marc Becoff

　　定位原文：G 段第4句“Bekoff likens it to a behavioural kaleidoscope...”

　　解題思路：Becoff將玩耍比喻為一個(gè)行為萬花筒，這句話也就是說在玩耍當(dāng)中動(dòng)物會(huì)做出各種各樣的舉動(dòng)，正好和G選項(xiàng)中的a wide range of相對(duì)應(yīng)。

　　Question 38

　　答案：E

　　關(guān)鍵詞：John Byers

　　定位原文：C段第2句“Byers points out that the benefits of increased exercise disappear rapidly after training stops, so...”

　　解題思路：Byers認(rèn)為訓(xùn)練一結(jié)束，由增強(qiáng)訓(xùn)練所帶來的好處就跟著迅速消失了，無論什么種群的動(dòng)物，玩耍都傾向于在哺乳期的中期達(dá)到頂峰，然后則開始走了下坡路。這就與E答案觀點(diǎn)—致。

　　Question 39

　　答案：D

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Sergio Pellis

　　定位原文：E段第1句“...reported that there is a strong positive link between brain size and playfulness among mammals in general.”

　　解題思路：Pellis認(rèn)為哺乳動(dòng)物的玩耍量與他們大腦的大小往往成正比。所以玩耍比較少的動(dòng)物腦子也比較小。

　　定位原文：第3段第1句“Isolation breeds linguistic diversity: as a result, the world is peppered with languages spoken by only a few people.”

　　Question 40

　　答案：A

　　關(guān)鍵詞：Stephen Siviy

　　定位原文：H段第6句“Siviy studied how bouts of play affected the brain's levels of a particular chemical associated with..”

　　解題思路：Siviy認(rèn)為玩耍能夠影響大腦中一種特殊化學(xué)物質(zhì)，這種物質(zhì)會(huì)刺激神經(jīng)細(xì)胞生長。答案選A。

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