As more and more people speak the global languages of English, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic, other languages are rapidly disappearing. In fact, half of the 6,000-7,000 languages spoken around the world today will likely die out by the next century, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
In an effort to prevent language loss, scholars from a number of organizations- UNESCO and National Geographic among them –have for many years been documenting dying languages and the cultures they reflect.
Mark Turin, a scientist at the Macmillan Center, Yale University, who specializes in the languages and oral traditions of the Himalayas, is following in that tradition. His recently published book, A Grammar of Thangmi with an Ethnolinguistic Introduction to the Speakers and Their Culture, grows out of his experience living, looking and raising a family in a village in Nepal.
Documenting the Tangmi language and culture is just a starting point for Turin, who seeks to include other languages and oral traditions across the Himalayans reaches of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. But he is not content to simply record these voices before they disappear without record.
At the University of Cambridge Turin discovered a wealth of important materials- including photographs, films, tap recordings, and field notes- which had remained unstudied and were badly in need of care and protection.
Now, through the two organizations that he has founded—the Digital Himalaya Project and the World Oral Literature Project- Turin has started a campaign to make such documents, found in libraries and stores around the world, available not just to scholars but to the youngers.
Generations of communities from whom the materials were originally collected. Thanks to digital technology and the widely available Internet. Turin notes, the endangered languages can be saved and reconnected with speech communities.According to the passage, many experts like Mark Turin are devoted to ____.
| A．looking for the lost languages |
| B．spreading the knowledge of global languages |
| C．saving the languages that are dying out |
| D．organizing new language research groups |
Why some languages are dying out?
| A．Because some people are ashamed of their native language. |
| B．Because the local people are forbidden to use them. |
| C．Because the global languages are widely used . |
| D．Because the people who use them are dying out. |
What does Turin do in his work?
| A．Listen, copy and store. |
| B．Copying, experiment and protect. |
| C．Protect , collect and report. |
| D．Document, protect and reconnect. |
Which of the following may be useful in Turin’s work?
| A．Cameras and radios. | B．Recorders and computers. |
| C．Telescopes and TVs. | D．Telephones and fax. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Some scientists are trying to rescue disappearing languages. |
| B．Some languages are becoming extinct. |
| C．There are various languages in the world. |
| D．Not all languages are in use. |
Different countries have different customs. When you travel to another countries, please follow their customs, just as the saying goes, “ .”
Very often people who travel to the United States forget to tip. It is usual to tip porters who help carry your bags, taxi drivers and waiters. Waiters expect to get a 15% tip on the cost of your meal. Taxi drivers expect about the same amount.
In England, make sure to stand in line even if there are only two of you. It’s important to respect lines there. It’s a good idea to talk about the weather. It’s a favorite subject of conversation with the British.
In Spain, it’s a good idea to have a light meal in the afternoon if someone invites you for dinner. People have dinner very late, and restaurants do not generally open until after 9 pm.
In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek. Your host may welcome you with a kiss on both cheeks. It is polite for you to do the same.
In Japan, people usually give personal or business cards to each other when they meet for the first time. When a person gives you a card, don’t put it into your pocket right away. The person expects you to read it.
Don’t forget to be careful of your body language to express something in conversation. A kind of body language that is acceptable in one culture may be impolite in another.When you travel to the USA, you don’t need to tip .
| A．porters | B．waiters |
| C．teachers | D．taxi drivers |
The missing sentence in the first paragraph should be“ .”
| A．Love me, love my dog |
| B．He who laughs last laughs best |
| C．When in Rome, do as the Romans do |
| D．Where there is a will, there is a way |
The underline word “porters” in the passage means .
| A．搬运工 | B．清洁工 |
| C．接线员 | D．售票员 |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．In Spain, People usually have dinner very early. |
| B．In England, It’s a not polite to talk about the weather. |
| C．In Arab countries, men kiss one another on the cheek. |
| D．In Japan you should not read the business card as soon as you get it. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．How to Tip |
| B．Body Language |
| C．When to Have Dinne |
| D．Advice to International Travelers |
My teenage son Karl became withdrawn(孤僻) after his father died. As a single parent, I tried to do my best to talk to him. But the more I tried, the more he pulled away. When his report card arrived during his junior year, it said that he had been absent 95 times from classes and had six falling grades for the year. In this way he would never graduate. I sent him to the school adviser, and I even begged him. Nothing worked. One night I felt so powerless that I got down on my knees and asked God for help. "Please God, I can't do anything more for my son. I'm at the end of my rope. I'm giving the whole thing up to you." I was at work when I got a phone call. A man introduced himself as the headmaster. "I want to talk to you about Karl's absences." Before he could say another word, I choked up (哽咽) and all my disappointment and sadness over Karl came pouring out into the ears of this stranger. "I love my son, but I just don't know what to do. I've tried everything to get Karl to go back to school and nothing has worked. It's out of my hands." For a moment there was silence on the other end of the line. The headmaster seriously said, "Thank you for your time", and hung up. Karl’s next report card showed a marked improvement in his grades. Finally, he was even on the list of the best students at school. In his fourth year, I attended a parent-teacher meeting with Karl. I noticed that his teachers were astonished at the way he had turned himself around. On our way home, he said, "Mum, remember that call from the headmaster last year?" I nodded. "That was me. I thought I'd play a joke but when I heard what you said, it really hit me how much I was hurting you. That's when I knew I had to make you proud."According to the first report card, Karl __________.
| A．often went to school late |
| B．failed in all the exams |
| C．did a good job at school |
| D．didn't do well at school |
When the mother said "It's out of my hands." to the headmaster, she meant that she________.
| A．didn't know what to do about her son |
| B．would drive her son away from the house |
| C．had no money to support the family |
| D．she would have to hang up |
Who was it that telephoned Karl's mother that day?
| A．The headmaster. | B．The school adviser. |
| C．Karl himself. | D．The passage doesn't tell us. |
From the passage we can learn that _________.
| A．children in single-parent families always have mental problems |
| B．mother's love plays an important role in teenagers' life |
| C．parents should give their children as much help as possible |
| D．school education still works well without support from parents |
If you go into the woods with your friends, stay with them. If you don’t, you may get lost. If you do get lost, this is what you should do.
Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends--let them find you. You can help them to find you by staying in one place.
There is another way to help your friends or other people nearby to find you. Give them a signal by shouting or whistling three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a call for help. You will be helped by others.
Keep up the shouting or whistling, always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know they have heard your signal. They will give two shouts, two whistles or two gunshots. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help.
If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house and cover up the holes with branches with lots of leaves and grass. What should you do if you get hungry or need to drink some water? You should have to leave your little branch house to look for a brook. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back.
The most important thing to do when you are lost is--stay in one place.How do you let people believe that you are not just making noise for fun?
| A．Stop now and then. |
| B．Go on shouting or whistling. |
| C．Shout over and over at the top of voice. |
| D．Shout or whistle three times once a while. |
If nobody answers you after your signal, what should you do then?
| A．Give two gunshots. | B．Shout louder. |
| C．Stop shouting. | D．Make a house. |
If you feel thirsty when you are lost in the forest, what should you do?
| A．Go and find a brook. |
| B．Light a fire and make yourself some tea. |
| C．Go to find a brook and leave marks behind you. |
| D．Find something to hold the water. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A．What Do Three Shots And Two Shots Mean In A Forest |
| B．How To Find Your Friends When You Are Lost In The Woods |
| C．What To Do If You Get Lost In The Woods |
| D．The Most Important Thing To Do Is To Stay In One Place |
| Basketball Match BULLS Vs LAKERS Friday June 11 2 o’clock Bull Basketball Club For detailed information see Paul Burton before Friday Lunch time |
TICKY’S DISCO Non-stop music Light show 15 Pembroke Road Weekdays: 7p.m.-11p.m. Saturday late night special: 8 p.m.-3 a.m. Sundays: Closed Over 18s only |
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Who can’t go dancing in Ticky’s Disco?
| A．A 30-year-old teacher | B．A 21-year-old assistant |
| C．A 15-year-old student | D．A 40-year-old worker |
If you have lunch in Karma, who will serve you at the table?
| A．The waiter | B．The waitress |
| C．Your friend | D．Yourself |
Who will tell you the information about the basketball match?
| A．Howard Brenton | B．GP. Lewis |
| C．Paul Burton | D．Dotley Marston |
Which of the following food can you have at Karma?
| A．Fish | B．Chicken | C．Tomato | D．Beef |
When US student Olivia Priedeman, 17, woke up one morning, she thought she had had a dream about making plans with a friend. But it wasn’t a dream. Her phone showed that during the night, Priedeman had read a text message from her friend. She did it while she was fast asleep.
Reading and responding (反应) to text messages while asleep – called “sleep texting” – is an unusual sleep behavior, similar to sleepwalking. It’s also a growing concern among doctors: young people can’t live without their cell phones.
One in three teenagers sends more than 100 text messages a day, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. And at least four out of five teenagers said they sleep with their phone on or near their bed.
Elizabeth Dowdell, a professor at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, has studied sleep texting. She said that having a phone nearby all night is a big part of the problem.
“That phone is in bed with them or sometimes on top of their chest when they’re sleeping or even in their hand. So the response is kind of automatic (自动的),” she said.
Andrew Stiehm, a sleep medicine expert with Allina Health in Minnesota, agrees. It’s possible for the part of the brain that controls motor (运动神经) skills to wake up, while the part of the brain that controls memory and judgment may remain asleep. That’s why some people can perform basic movements – such as walking, talking, texting or even driving – while they’re sleeping.
Some of Dowdell’s students have admitted that they’re disturbed by their nighttime texting behavior. But because sleep texting is unconscious (无意识的), it’s a difficult habit to break.
Dowdell said she knows of some students who wear socks on their hands to keep themselves from texting.
Marjorie Hogan, a doctor at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, suggests keeping all electronic devices outside the bedroom at certain times.
Shay Radhakrishnan, 16, admits that she sleeps with her phone. But now the practice is giving her some pause (停顿).
“A lot of people leave their phones on their side tables, but for some reason I leave mine on my bed,” she said. “It is probably dangerous because it will probably wake me up a lot more – and probably cause me to start sleep texting.”What happened to Olivia Priedeman?
| A．She sleepwalked to a friend’s house. |
| B．She phoned one of her friends during the night. |
| C．She dreamed of making plans with a friend. |
| D．She read a text message from her friend while asleep. |
How does sleep texting happen?
| A．Some parts of the body are out of control during sleep. |
| B．The brain part controlling motor skills wakes up during sleep. |
| C．The brain part controlling judgment stays awake during sleep. |
| D．The brain part controlling memory becomes unconscious during sleep. |
What does doctor Hogan suggest people who sleep text do?
| A．Stop texting during the daytime. |
| B．Keep their phones out of their bedrooms while they sleep. |
| C．Take some medicine to control the behavior. |
| D．Wear socks on their hands to stop themselves from texting. |
Which of the following statements about sleep texting is TRUE?
| A．Sleep texting can reduce the quality of one’s sleep. |
| B．It’s easy to break away from a sleep texting habit. |
| C．Sleep texting does more harm to one’s health than sleepwalking. |
| D．One in three teenagers has a sleep texting habit. |
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