Some things we know about language
Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so．But some
things we do know．
First，we know that all human beings have a language of some sort．There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language，no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one mother．Furthermore，in historical times，there has never been a race of men without a language．
Second，there is no such thing as a primitive language．There are many people whose
cultures are undeveloped，who are，as we say，uncivilized。but the languages they speak are not primitive．In all known 1anguages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing．
This has not always been well understood；indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated． Popular ideas of the 1anguage of the American Indians will illustrate．Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises．Study has proved this to be nonsense．There are，or were，hundreds of American Indian languages，and a11 of them rum out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with，but they are no more primitive than English and Greek．
A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate．That is．each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language．
Finally, we know that language changes．It is natural and normal for language to change； the only languages which do not change are the dead ones．This is easy to understand if we look backward in time．Change goes on in all aspects of language．Grammatical features change as do speech sounds，and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly．Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.
練習(xí)：
1.In the second paragraph the author thinks that
A)some backward race doesn’t have a language of its own．
B)some race in history didn’t possess a language of its own．
C)any human race，whether backward or not，has a language．
D)some races on earth call communicate without language．
2.According to the author, people of undeveloped cultures can have languages．
A)complicated
B)uncivilized
C)primitive
D)well-known
3.The author has used American Indian languages as all example to show that they are
A)just as old as some well-known languages．
B)just as sophisticated as some well-known languages．
C)more developed than some well-known languages．
D)more complex than some well-known languages．
4.Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
A)A language is a means of expressing a particular culture．
B)AU languages Can well express their respective cultures．
C)American Indian languages are as sophisticated as English．
D)Some languages are better than other languages．
5.According to the author, language changes are most likely to occur in
A)grammar．
B)pronunciation．
C)vocabulary．
D)intonation．
Florida Hit by Cold Air mass
In January, 2003，the eastern two．thirds of the United States was at the mercy of a bitterly cold air mass that has endangered Florida’s citrus trees，choked northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow．
The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits。in most of me。South,with all unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida．Temperatures in Florida plunged，with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees．
“We couldn’t believe how cold it was，”said Martin King，who arrived this week in Orlando。from England．“We brought shorts，T·shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”
The temperature plunge posed a threat to Florida’s US$9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop．More of which is still on the trees．Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold．
“Time is of the essenceⅢin getting fruit to the plant，”said Tom Rogers，a citrus grower who expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time．
In Florida，Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit Oil trucks SO citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible．
Casey Pace，a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual，said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers。which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing．Citrus trees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or more．Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters “blanketed“ the Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia．
練習(xí)：
1.Which．of the following statements is not meant in the first two paragraphs?
A)The cold air mass was a threat to Florida’s citrus crop．
B)The temperature in the United States except the South dropped below the freezing mark．
C)The northern harbors were blocked with ice．
D)The eastern two thirds of the United States was hit by cold air mass．
2.According to the second paragraph，in which area(s)did the temperature fall below zero?
A)Most of the South．
B)Parts of interior South Florida．
C)West Palm Beach．
D)All of the above．
3.King’s statement that “we brought shorts，T-shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”shows that
A)he was caught by the sudden cold．
B)he needed formal clothes．
C)fashion in Florida is tempting．
D)Florida is hot compared with England．
4.Governor Jeb issue the emergency order because he
A)thought speed limit for trucks was unreasonable．
B)tried to improve the traffic condition of the expressways．
C)wanted to encourage trucks to transport as much fruit to market as possible
D)wanted to stop trucks from carrying too much fruit to market．
5.Which statement is NOT true according to the last paragraph?
A)Sprinklers were used to protect citrus trees from being damaged．
B)Citrus trees would be damaged if the temperature drops below minus 2~C for four hours．
C)The Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia were covered with snow．
D)Florida Citrus Mutual sprayed trees with sprinklers for citrus growers．
Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so．But some
things we do know．
First，we know that all human beings have a language of some sort．There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language，no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one mother．Furthermore，in historical times，there has never been a race of men without a language．
Second，there is no such thing as a primitive language．There are many people whose
cultures are undeveloped，who are，as we say，uncivilized。but the languages they speak are not primitive．In all known 1anguages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing．
This has not always been well understood；indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated． Popular ideas of the 1anguage of the American Indians will illustrate．Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises．Study has proved this to be nonsense．There are，or were，hundreds of American Indian languages，and a11 of them rum out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with，but they are no more primitive than English and Greek．
A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate．That is．each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language．
Finally, we know that language changes．It is natural and normal for language to change； the only languages which do not change are the dead ones．This is easy to understand if we look backward in time．Change goes on in all aspects of language．Grammatical features change as do speech sounds，and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly．Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.
練習(xí)：
1.In the second paragraph the author thinks that
A)some backward race doesn’t have a language of its own．
B)some race in history didn’t possess a language of its own．
C)any human race，whether backward or not，has a language．
D)some races on earth call communicate without language．
2.According to the author, people of undeveloped cultures can have languages．
A)complicated
B)uncivilized
C)primitive
D)well-known
3.The author has used American Indian languages as all example to show that they are
A)just as old as some well-known languages．
B)just as sophisticated as some well-known languages．
C)more developed than some well-known languages．
D)more complex than some well-known languages．
4.Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
A)A language is a means of expressing a particular culture．
B)AU languages Can well express their respective cultures．
C)American Indian languages are as sophisticated as English．
D)Some languages are better than other languages．
5.According to the author, language changes are most likely to occur in
A)grammar．
B)pronunciation．
C)vocabulary．
D)intonation．
Florida Hit by Cold Air mass
In January, 2003，the eastern two．thirds of the United States was at the mercy of a bitterly cold air mass that has endangered Florida’s citrus trees，choked northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow．
The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits。in most of me。South,with all unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida．Temperatures in Florida plunged，with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees．
“We couldn’t believe how cold it was，”said Martin King，who arrived this week in Orlando。from England．“We brought shorts，T·shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”
The temperature plunge posed a threat to Florida’s US$9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop．More of which is still on the trees．Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold．
“Time is of the essenceⅢin getting fruit to the plant，”said Tom Rogers，a citrus grower who expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time．
In Florida，Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit Oil trucks SO citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible．
Casey Pace，a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual，said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers。which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing．Citrus trees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or more．Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters “blanketed“ the Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia．
練習(xí)：
1.Which．of the following statements is not meant in the first two paragraphs?
A)The cold air mass was a threat to Florida’s citrus crop．
B)The temperature in the United States except the South dropped below the freezing mark．
C)The northern harbors were blocked with ice．
D)The eastern two thirds of the United States was hit by cold air mass．
2.According to the second paragraph，in which area(s)did the temperature fall below zero?
A)Most of the South．
B)Parts of interior South Florida．
C)West Palm Beach．
D)All of the above．
3.King’s statement that “we brought shorts，T-shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”shows that
A)he was caught by the sudden cold．
B)he needed formal clothes．
C)fashion in Florida is tempting．
D)Florida is hot compared with England．
4.Governor Jeb issue the emergency order because he
A)thought speed limit for trucks was unreasonable．
B)tried to improve the traffic condition of the expressways．
C)wanted to encourage trucks to transport as much fruit to market as possible
D)wanted to stop trucks from carrying too much fruit to market．
5.Which statement is NOT true according to the last paragraph?
A)Sprinklers were used to protect citrus trees from being damaged．
B)Citrus trees would be damaged if the temperature drops below minus 2~C for four hours．
C)The Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia were covered with snow．
D)Florida Citrus Mutual sprayed trees with sprinklers for citrus growers．