How the languages of the world appeared is largely a mystery. Considering that it might have taken t
英语试题 08-10
How the languages of the world appeared is largely a mystery. Considering that it might have taken thousands of years, it is attractive to see how deaf people can create novel sign languages unconsciously. Interestingly, children played an important role in the development of these novel languages. However, how exactly this happened has not been documented.
In a series of studies, researchers attempted to recreate exactly this process. Children were invited to stay in two different rooms and an online connection was set up between them.After a brief familiarization with the set- up, the researchers sneakily (偷偷地）turned off the sound and watched as the children found new ways of communicating that go beyond spoken language.
The children's task was to describe an image with different themes in a coordination game. With concrete things-like a hammer or a fork-children quickly found a solution by imitating the matching action, for example, eating, in a gesture. But the researchers repeatedly challenged the children with new, more abstract pictures. In the course of the study, the images to be described became more and more complex, which was also reflected in the gestures that the children produced. In order to communicate, the children invented separate gestures for actors and actions and began to combine them-thus creating a kind of small local grammar.
How does a language come into being? Based on the present study, the following steps appear reasonable: first, people create reference to actions and objects through signs that resemble things. The precondition for this is a common ground of experience between interaction partners. Partners also coordinate (配合）by imitating each other so that they use the same signs for the same things. The signs thus gain interpersonal and eventually common meaning. Over time, the relationships between the signs and things become more abstract and the meaning of the individual signs becomes more specific. Grammatical structures are gradually introduced when there is a need to communicate more complex facts. However, the most remarkable aspect of the current studies is that these processes can be observed under controlled circumstances and within 30 minutes.
12. How did the researchers carry out the experiment?
A. By making the communication in total silence.
B. By inferring to and copying the documented scene.
C. By observing children communicate face to face.
D. By listening secretly to the communication of children.
13. What should children do in the studies?
A. Show how to do different things with different tools.
B. Take several oral examinations on foreign languages.
C. Describe things to others without spoken languages.
D. Name some abstract objects which they have never seen.
14. What is the process of creating a language?
A. Signs→Accepted meaning→Interpersonal meaning→Language
B. Interpersonal meaning→Accepted meaning→Signs→Language
C. Accepted meaning→Interpersonal meaning→Signs→Language
D. Signs→Interpersonal meaning→Accepted meaning→Language
15. What is the text mainly about?
A. The development of novel sign languages.
B. The first steps of the making of languages.
C. The role children play in creating languages.
D. The circumstances of languages coming into being.
【答案】
In a series of studies, researchers attempted to recreate exactly this process. Children were invited to stay in two different rooms and an online connection was set up between them.After a brief familiarization with the set- up, the researchers sneakily (偷偷地）turned off the sound and watched as the children found new ways of communicating that go beyond spoken language.
The children's task was to describe an image with different themes in a coordination game. With concrete things-like a hammer or a fork-children quickly found a solution by imitating the matching action, for example, eating, in a gesture. But the researchers repeatedly challenged the children with new, more abstract pictures. In the course of the study, the images to be described became more and more complex, which was also reflected in the gestures that the children produced. In order to communicate, the children invented separate gestures for actors and actions and began to combine them-thus creating a kind of small local grammar.
How does a language come into being? Based on the present study, the following steps appear reasonable: first, people create reference to actions and objects through signs that resemble things. The precondition for this is a common ground of experience between interaction partners. Partners also coordinate (配合）by imitating each other so that they use the same signs for the same things. The signs thus gain interpersonal and eventually common meaning. Over time, the relationships between the signs and things become more abstract and the meaning of the individual signs becomes more specific. Grammatical structures are gradually introduced when there is a need to communicate more complex facts. However, the most remarkable aspect of the current studies is that these processes can be observed under controlled circumstances and within 30 minutes.
12. How did the researchers carry out the experiment?
A. By making the communication in total silence.
B. By inferring to and copying the documented scene.
C. By observing children communicate face to face.
D. By listening secretly to the communication of children.
13. What should children do in the studies?
A. Show how to do different things with different tools.
B. Take several oral examinations on foreign languages.
C. Describe things to others without spoken languages.
D. Name some abstract objects which they have never seen.
14. What is the process of creating a language?
A. Signs→Accepted meaning→Interpersonal meaning→Language
B. Interpersonal meaning→Accepted meaning→Signs→Language
C. Accepted meaning→Interpersonal meaning→Signs→Language
D. Signs→Interpersonal meaning→Accepted meaning→Language
15. What is the text mainly about?
A. The development of novel sign languages.
B. The first steps of the making of languages.
C. The role children play in creating languages.
D. The circumstances of languages coming into being.
【答案】
苏19057182-3号