【21：30～22：00　睡前半小時(shí)英語(yǔ)】

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

Sign has become a scientific hot button.Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique—a speech of the hand.They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language，and throw new light on an old scientific controversy whether language，complete with grammar，is something that we are born with，or whether it is a learned behavior.The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington，　D.　C.，the world's only liberal arts university for deaf people.

When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English，the school enrolled him in a course in signing.But Stokoe noticed something odd among themselves，students signed differently from his classroom teacher.

Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code，each movement of the hands representing a word in English.At the time，American Sign Language（ASL）was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English（混雜英語(yǔ)）.But Stokoe believed the“hand talk”his students used looked richer.He wondered might deaf people actually have a genuine language and could that language be unlike any other on Earth.It was 1955，when even deaf people dismissed their signing as substandard.Stokoe's idea was academic heresy（異端邪說(shuō)）.

It is 37 years later.Stokoe—now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture—is having lunch at a cafe near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution.For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English，F(xiàn)rench and Japanese.They assumed language must be based on speech，the modulation（調(diào)節(jié)）of sound.But sign language is based on the movement of hands，the modulation of space.What I said，Stokoe explains，is that language is not mouth stuff—it's brain stuff.

1.The study of sign language is thought to be _________.

A.a new way to look at the learning of language

B.a challenge to traditional views on the nature of language

C.an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language

D.an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language

2.The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by __________.

A.a famous scholar in the study of the human brain　B.a leading specialist in the study of liberal arts

C.an English teacher in a university for the deaf　D.some senior experts in American Sign Language

3.According to Stokoe，sign language is _________.

A.a substandard language　B.a genuine language

C.an artificial language　D.an international language

4.Most educators objected to Stokoe's idea because they thought _________.

A.sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people

B.sign language was too artificial to be widely accepted

C.a language should be easy to use and understand

D.a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds

5.Stokoe's argument is based on his belief that _________.

A.sign language is as efficient as any other language

B.sign language is derived from natural language

C.language is a system of meaningful codes

D.language is a product of the brain

※答案與解析※

1.B　依據(jù)第一段第三句話(huà)。該句指出：手勢(shì)語(yǔ)提供了一種新的方法來(lái)探討大腦是如何產(chǎn)生語(yǔ)言和理解語(yǔ)言的，并對(duì)—個(gè)古老的科學(xué)爭(zhēng)論提供了新的線(xiàn)索：人的語(yǔ)言連同語(yǔ)法到底是生來(lái)就有的還是后天習(xí)得的，由此可知，這是對(duì)傳統(tǒng)的語(yǔ)言性質(zhì)的觀(guān)點(diǎn)的挑戰(zhàn)，故選項(xiàng)B為正確答案。

2.C　根據(jù)第一段倒數(shù)第一句“The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington，　D.　C.，the world's only liberal arts university for deaf people.”可知，選項(xiàng)C為正確答案。

3.B　依據(jù)第三段第二、第三以及第四句內(nèi)容“At the time，American Sign Language（ASL）was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English（混雜英語(yǔ)）。But Stokoe believed the“hand talk”his students used looked richer。He wondered：might deaf people usually have a genuine language？”可知，手勢(shì)語(yǔ)是一種真正的語(yǔ)言。故選項(xiàng)B為正確答案。

4.D　依據(jù)最后一段第三、第四句內(nèi)容。該文指出：幾十年來(lái)，教育家都在與手勢(shì)語(yǔ)就像英語(yǔ)、法語(yǔ)和日語(yǔ)一樣是自然語(yǔ)言這樣的觀(guān)點(diǎn)進(jìn)行著斗爭(zhēng)，他們認(rèn)為語(yǔ)言必須以言語(yǔ)（即聲音的調(diào)節(jié)）為基礎(chǔ)。由此可知，選項(xiàng)D為正確答案。

5.D　依據(jù)最后一段最后一句話(huà) （“What I said，”Stokoe explains，“is that language is not mouth stuff—it's brain stuff”）。由此可知，選項(xiàng)D為正確答案。