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When Carios Westez died at the age of 76, a language died, too. Westez, more commonly known as Red Thunder Cloud, was the last speaker of the Native American language Catawba. Anyone who wants to hear the songs of the Catawba can contact the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D . C . , where, back in the 19——0s, Red Thunder Cloud recorded a series of songs for future generations. 41 They are all that is left of the Catawba language. The language that people used to speak is gone forever.
We are all aware of the danger that modern industry can do to the world' s ecology (生態). However, few people are aware of the impact widely spoken languages have on other languages and ways of life. English has spread all over the world. Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi have become powerful languages as well. 42 When this happens, hundreds of languages that are spoken by only a few die out.
Scholars believe there are around 6,000 languages around the world, but more than half of them could die out within the next 100 years. There are many examples. Araki is the language of the island of Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is spoken by only a few older adults, so like Catawba, Araki will soon disappear. Many languages of Ethiopia will have the same fate because each one has only a few speakers. 43 In the Americas, 100 languages, each of which has
fewer than 300 speakers, are dying out. Red Thunder Cloud was one of the first to recognize the danger of language death and to try to do something about it. He was not actually bomb into the Catawba tribe, and the language was not his mother tongue. 44 The songs he sang for the Smithsonian Institution helped to make Native American music popular. Now he is gone, and the language is dead.
What does it mean for the rest of us when a language disappears? When a plant, insect, or animal species dies, it is easy to understand what has been lost and to appreciate what it means for the balance of the natural world. However, language is only a product of the mind. To be the last remaining speaker of a language, like Red Thunder, must be a peculiarly lonely destiny, almost as strange and terrible as being the last surviving member of a dying species. 45
[A] Some people might want to learn some of these songs by hearts.
[B] Most languages have become less and less speakers.
[C] However, he was a frequent visitor to the Catawba reservation in South Carcinoma where he learned the language.
[D] These languages don't have many native speakers.
[E] For the rest of us, when a language dies, we lose the possibility of a unique way of seeing and describing the world.
[F] As these language become more powerful, their use as tools of business and culture increase, as well.
[G] Papus New Guines is an extremely rich source of different language, but more than 100 of them are in danger of extinction(——).
參考譯文當凱瑞斯·威斯特76歲去世時，一門語言也消失了。威斯特俗稱“紅色雷電雨”，是說美國本土語言卡託巴的最後一個人。20世紀40年代。任何人想要聽到卡託巴的各種歌曲可以聯絡在華盛頓哥倫比亞特區的史密森學會。“紅色雷電雨”為未來幾代人錄製了一系列的歌曲。有些人可能用心想嘗試學習一些歌曲。這些都是卡託巴語所留下的。人們曾用的語言永遠消失了。
我們都意識到現代工業給世界生態帶來的危險，但是卻很少有人意識到被廣泛使用的語言對其他語言和生活方式的影響。英語已經遍佈世界，中文、西班牙語、俄語和印地語也已經成為強勢的語種。隨著這些語言變得日益強大，他們作為工具在商業和文化中的作用也會增強。當這一切發生時，成百上千種的稀有語言將會消失。
學者們認為，世界約有6000種語言，但是一半以上的語言可能在未來100年內消失。這已有太多的例子：阿拉基語是萬那杜小島上人們使用的語言，該島位於太平洋。只有很少年長者才會講這種語言。和卡託巴語一樣，阿拉基語很快就會消失;衣索比亞的許多語言也會面臨同樣的命運，因為每一種語言只有極少數的人在使用。很少有人把這些語言當作母語。在美洲的100種語言中，每一種語言的使用者不超過300人。它們正在消失。
紅色雷電雲是第一個認識到語言消亡的危險並試圖挽救的人。實際上。他並不是出生於卡託巴族，該語言也不是他的母語。然而，他是南卡羅來納州卡託巴保護區的常客，在那裡他學會了這種語言。他為史密森學會演唱歌曲使美國本土音樂得以流行。現在他走了，該語言也消失了。
一種語言消失對我們來說意味著什麼?當一種植物、昆蟲或動物死了，我們很容易明白它對自然界的平衡帶來的損失以及它對自然界意味著什麼。然而，語言只是思想的產物。像紅色雷電雲一樣，作為最後一個掌握一門語言的倖存者，必定有著特別孤獨的宿命，就如同某一物種
的唯一倖存者一樣奇怪和可怕。而對於我們其他人來說，當一種語言消失。我們就失去了以其獨特的方式觀察和描述世界的可能性。
答案及解析41.A【解析】空格前面提到他為後代錄下了一系列的歌曲，接下來可以預期這樣做的目的，即也許有人想要記住這些歌曲中的幾首，前後內容連貫，故選A.
42.F 【解析】前面提到這些語言變得日益強勢，既然語言是工具，可以斷定他們在商業和文化中的`工具性也會隨之增強，所以選F.
43.D【解析】衣索比亞的許多語言也將瀕臨滅絕，因為講該語言的人非常少，而且沒有人把它們當作母語來講，此處的these languages指那些將要消失的語言，所以D正確。
44.C【解析】儘管他不是出生在卡託巴族部落，卡託巴語也不是他的母語，他卻掌握了這門語言，原因在於他是Catawba reservation(卡託巴居留地)的常客，他在那裡學會了這門語言，因此選C.
45.E【解析】作為一門語言的最後一個掌握者的確奇怪，令人感到可怕，選項E是對文章內容l的最後總結，即當一門語言消亡後，我們也失去了觀察和描述世界的一種方式，所以E最合適。
