首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Languages which to be extinct Ever hear someone speak Udihe, Eyak or Arikapu? Odds are you never will. Among the world’s 6,800 l
Languages which to be extinct Ever hear someone speak Udihe, Eyak or Arikapu? Odds are you never will. Among the world’s 6,800 l
admin
2009-06-15
49
问题
Languages which to be extinct
Ever hear someone speak Udihe, Eyak or Arikapu?
Odds are you never will. Among the world’s 6,800 languages, half to 90 percent could be extinct by the end of the century.
One reason is that half of all languages are spoken by fewer than 2,500 people each, according to the Worldwatch Institute, a private organization that monitors global trends.
Languages need at least 100,000 speakers to pass from generation to generation, says UNESCO. War and genocide, fatal natural disasters, the adoption of more dominant languages such as Chinese and Russian, and government bans on language also contribute to their extinction.
The outlook for Udihe, Eyak and Arikapu, spoken in Siberia, Alaska and the Amazon jungle, respectively, is particularly depressing. About lif0 people speak Udihe, six speak Arikapu, and Eyak is down to one, Worldwatch says.
Marie Smith, 83, of Alaska, says she’s the last speaker of Eyak, a claim verified by linguists. "It’s horrible to be alone," Smith said.
It’s becoming a struggle, too, to find many who can say "thank you" in the Navajo language of the American Indian tribe (ahehee), or "hello" in the Maori language of New Zealand(kiaora).
The losses ripple foar beyond the affected communities. When a language dies, inguists, anthropologists and others lose rich sources of material for their work documenting a people’s history, finding out what they knew and tracking their movements from region to region. And the world, linguistically speaking, becomes less diverse.
Eight countries account for more than half of all languages. They are, in order, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Cameroon, Australia and Brazil.
That languages die isn’t new; thousands are believed to have disappeared already. The distinguishing thing is it’s happening at such an alarming rate right now. Linguists believe 3,400 to 6,120 Languages could become extinct by 2100.
While a few languages including Chinese, Greek and Hebrew, are more than 2,00 years old, others are coming back from the dead, so to speak.
In 1983, Hawaiians created the Aha Punana Leo organization to reintroduce their native language throughout the state, including its public schools. The language nearly became extinct when the United States banned schools from teaching in Hawaiian after incorporating the then independent country in 1898.
Some 7,000 to 10,000 Hawaiians currently speak their native tongue, up from fewer than 1,000 in 1983, said Luahiwa Namahoe, the organization’s spokeswoman.
选项
A、Around 6,800.
B、Around 680.
C、About 680 to 3,400.
D、Around 2,500.
答案
C
解析
根据文章第二段可知现存6,800种语言,根据倒数第四段的最后一句话可知到2100年有3,400—6,120种语言将灭绝。因此得出答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/1LmsFFFM
本试题收录于:
职称英语综合类B级题库职称英语分类
0
职称英语综合类B级
职称英语
相关试题推荐
LearningDisabilitiesLearningdisabilitiesareverycommon.Theyaffectperhaps10percentofallchildren.Fourtimesasm
TheU.S.facessevereeconomicproblems.
LessIsMoreItsoundsallwrong—drillingholesinapieceofwoodtomakeitmoreresistanttoknocks.Butitworksbecause
AthevolunteersdoBbecauseshedoesnothaveaweightproblemCbecausethelifetherecanbeveryboringDmakepeopleovere
ElectronicMailDuringthepastfewyears,scientistsallovertheworldhavesuddenlyfoundthemselvesproductivelyengaged
AalotofmoneyBBritishpeopleCmorningDlocalpeopleEnationalissuesFlocalissuesBritishpeoplehavethehabitofre
Accordingtothepassage,thescienceofthefutureislikelytobeOrganicchemistryhelpstoproducematerialsthatare
WhatfactorcanbeattributedtoGermanprosperity?WhenwastheFraunhoferSocietyfounded?
KitchenDesignOvertheyearseconomic,socialandtechnologicalfactorshaveinfluencedthedesignofkitchens.Sinceiti
SpoiltforChoiceSomeresearchwhichwasrecentlycarriedoutinBritainhasconfirmedwhatmanyordinaryshoppershavesus
随机试题
ABS二位二通电磁阀的只有增压和减压二种状态。()
根据某地区五种急性传染病的死亡构成的资料宜用
一患者,某日突然出现阵发性抽搐,表现意识丧失,眼球上窜,瞳孔散大,口唇青紫,全身抽搐,有舌咬伤,尿失禁,持续约3分钟,发作后入睡,意识清醒后对上述情况不能回忆,初步考虑为
高分子材料最明显的特点是( )。
下列工程项目索赔中,不属于按索赔目的分类的有()。
可转换公司债券具有()性质。
下列有关审计工作底稿归档期限的表述中,正确的是()。
某乡镇为了发展经济,建开发园区,要求园区规划内的住户动迁,其他人都按计划搬走了,只有五户居民工作很难做,政府给予他们的条件已经很优厚了,同意在原老房子后边给他们划拨土地让他们建房,但他们仍然坚持要在原地建房。办事的工作人员把这件事汇报给了镇长,镇长提出,既
二次型f(x1,x2,x3)=5x12+5x22+cx32一2x1x2+6x1x3—6x2x3的秩为2。求参数c及此二次型对应矩阵的特征值;
Whydoesthespeakersaythatpickingsomebody’spocketisanhonorablejobinsoutheastLondon?
最新回复
(
0
)