Last February，farther south in Chile，Cristina Calderon，the last known native speaker of Yaghan died—and a language fell silent.The disappearance of any tongue is a disaster，but Yaghan's extinction will be felt particularly painfully because this is no ordinary language.It is an "isolate"：a language totally separated from those used anywhere else in the world.
Broadly told，the story of language is a family affair.The similarities between Danish and Dutch speak to a world where languages have siblings（兄弟姐妹）.Isolates are different.Instead of having groups of siblings，these languages stand totally apart.Actually，many isolates were once members of larger families，but have been left isolated because the other "siblings" disappeared—usually through a mix of cultural influences or conquest.Ket，for instance，a language isolate of Siberia，was once part of the small Yenisei an language family.It is now alone，probably because of the spread of the Russian language following Russia's conquest of Siberia between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Language isolates now consist about 200 of the estimated 7，400 languages in use today but many are dangerously close to following Yaghan into extinction.As their vulnerability（脆弱性） has risen，so has an awareness that isolates can tell us a lot about human communication and cognition（認(rèn)知）.Over the years，they have offered us fresh understanding into the interplay between culture and language. "Each of these isolates is a whole different window on the mind，" says Lyle Campbell at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Luckily，Andra Mari Teacher Training University in Spain is beginning to teach Nasa Yuwe，an isolate language，which brings a ray of hope.However，school is not enough.If endangered languages are to survive，a welcoming cultural atmosphere needs to be created.With joint efforts，we can turn the tide，which might ensure that when older community members like Cristina Calderon die，the languages they speak live on.
（1）What does Cristina Calderon's death mean in the text？ AA
A．The loss of a language.
B．The drop of population.
C．The end of physical pain.
D．The separation of a family.
（2）What does the author try to explain in paragraph 2？ CC
A．Why Danish and Dutch are similar.
B．What language features Ket carries.
C．How a language can become an isolate.
D．Why siblings are of great importance.
（3）What can we infer from the last paragraph？ DD
A．The elders should be taken good care of.
B．Isolates should be added to school courses.
C．The isolates are nowhere to be found soon.
D．Much remains to be done to preserve isolates.
（4）What is the author's purpose in writing the text？ DD
A．To honor a well-known person.
B．To explore the origins of languages.
C．To encourage studies on languages.
D．To promote the preservation of languages.
【考點(diǎn)】傳統(tǒng)習(xí)俗與文化；說明文．
【答案】A；C；D；D
【解答】
【點(diǎn)評】
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發(fā)布：2024/6/26 8:0:9組卷：0引用：2難度：0.5
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