問題詳情

Languages seem to be converging to a smaller number, as languages likeEnglish seem to eat up regional ones. The three languages used the most by firstlanguage speakers today are Mandarin Chinese, English, and Spanish. English isbeing used more and more as the main language for business, science, and popularculture. Evidence suggests that the dominant languages are squeezing out the localtongues of various regions in the world. Linguists estimate that of the approximately6,500 languages worldwide, about half are endangered or on the brink of extinction.According to some linguists, the estimated rate of language extinction is one lost inthe world every two weeks. If this sounds like the world is losing a species, in a wayit is.When a language is lost, meaning no living person can teach another, a worldperspective is lost. Some foreign language expressions simply cannot be translated.Colloquial phrases are pleasant to the ear, not only because they are familiar, butalso because they reflect a unique aspect of a culture. Aboriginal languages inCanada and other countries such as Australia have words that reflect a way of lifethat is connected closely to the Earth. There are fifty different words that mean“snow” in one Canadian native language, and in the Eastern Arrernte language ofCentral Australia, the word nyimpe translates to “the smell of rain.”Languages are much like living creatures that become endangered whennumbers dwindle. Local natural disasters, war, and famine are some of the reasonslanguages slip through the cracks of history. The language that bore the differentdaughter languages for the Eskimo and Inuit was almost wiped out after World WarII. The mother language, Proto-Eskimo Aleut, was under siege when the Aleutpeople were forced to leave their land. Fortunately, some Proto-Eskimo Aleut, whichoriginated 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, is still spoken. Languages also becomeendangered when they are not passed on to children or when a metropolitanlanguage dominates over others.
74. Which of the following sentence from the passage is the effect, rather than the cause?
(A) Languages seem to be converging to a smaller number.
(B) Languages like English seem to eat up regional ones.
(C) The three languages used the most by first language speakers today are Mandarin Chinese, English, and Spanish.
(D) The estimated rate of language extinction is one lost in the world every two weeks.

參考答案

答案：A
難度：困難0.234043
統計：A(11),B(9),C(6),D(16),E(0)

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