The world's native languages are dying out at an unprecedented rate, taking with them irreplaceable knowledge about the natural world, according to a new study. The study identified five global "hot spots" where languages are _ faster than anywhere else ---- eastern Siberia, northern Australia, central South America, the US state of Oklahoma and the US Pacific Northwest. "Languages are suffering a global extinction crisis that greatly goes beyond the pace of species extinction," linguistics professor David Harrison noted, who said half of the world's 7,000 languages were expected to disappear before the end of the century. Native people had an intimate knowledge of their environment that was lost when their language disappeared, along with other certain things often unfamiliar to us, Harrison stressed. "Most of what we know about species and ecosystems is not written down anywhere, it's only in people's heads," he said. "We are seeing in front of our eyes the loss of the human knowledge base." Harrison was one of a team of linguists who carried out the study. The researchers traveled to Australia this year to study native languages, some of the most endangered. According to Harrison, in Australia, they were heartened to see a woman in her 80s who was one of the only three remaining speakers of the Yawuru language passing on her knowledge to schoolchildren. He said such inter-generational exchanges were the only way native languages could survive. "The children had elected to take this course, no one forced them," he said. "When we asked them why they were learning it, they said,'This is a dying language, we need to learn it'." Also, while there they found a man with knowledge of the Amurdag language, which had previously been thought extinct. The researchers said all five of the hot spots identified were areas that had been successfully colonized and where a dominant language such as Spanish or English was threatening native tongues. What does this text mainly talk about? A) A study on native languages endangered. B) The knowledge of native languages. C) People's efforts in saving native languages. D) Harrison and his study on languages.
A
(Question)
One afternoon, Coyote went hunting. Suddenly, a large frog laughed in front of him. Coyote pounced and pinned Frog to the ground. Frog thought quickly and came up with a plan. "Brother Coyote," he called. "You must not eat me today!" Coyote laughed loudly, _ "Why, I have a bet to make with you," Frog stated. "Tomorrow there is to be a race." Coyote's ears twitched. "A race?" "Yes," Frog continued. "You and I will race. If you win, then you may eat me." Coyote agreed. Frog hurried to the lake. In the morning, the animals gathered to watch as Coyote and Frog agreed on the course they would run. They were to start at the large stone and circle all the way around the lake. The first one back to the stone would be the winner. When the sun reached the noonday mark, they were off. Coyote ran as quickly as he could. Frog bounded into the grass and waited. Coyote looked behind him. Seeing no sign of Frog, Coyote was sure he would win. As Coyote was beginning to tire, Frog's look-alike friend jumped onto the course from behind an alder tree ahead. Coyote was surprised to see what he thought was Frog, and ran even faster, determined to win. Coyote dashed past him and called, "You may be fast, but I'm faster, I'll wait at the finish line to eat you up, Frog!" When Coyote came in sight of the finish line, Frog had appeared from his hiding place and easily hopped across the line. "You may be fast, Coyote, but I've managed to beat you!" Frog joyfully called out. Silently, he added, "With the help of my friends." Coyote went home puzzled and hungry again. What is Frog's problem in this passage? A) He is hungry. B) He is in danger. C) He has no friends. D) He thinks too slowly.
(Answer)
B
Ques: One of the serious problems for today's society is who should be responsible for the old and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem. First,employers should take the responsibility for their retired employees. To make this possible,a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take lifelong responsibility for its employees,it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs. Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor. In addition,the government could take the responsibility for the care of the old. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore,some institutions should be created for senior citizens,which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately,as the present situation in our country shows,this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the old,particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young. One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some workplaces especially for the old where they are independent. To sum up,all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore,it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to the old generations. What is the writer's main purpose of writing this passage? A) To point out the need for government supporting for old people. B) To make general readers aware of the problems of the retired people. C) To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem. D) To instruct the retired people on how they can have a happier life.
Ans:
C